By Carl Zielinski
Gargoyle staff reporter
Posted Sunday, Dec. 3, 2006, The OG, arts

A MOVIE ABOUT a pair of aging, overweight slackers with delusions of greatness might seem to most people strange and unnecessary. And they would be completely right.

More of a series of comedy sketches stretched out for 97 minutes than an actual movie, “Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny” is nothing more than an occasionally hilarious, occasionally stupid-beyond-belief pat on the back for the band's two members, Jack Black (“JB,” “Jables”) and Kyle Gass (“KG,” “Kage,” “Rage Kage”), as well as an excuse to feature cameos by friends of the band (Ben Stiller, Dave Grohl, Ronnie James Dio, among others).

The movie documents Tenacious D's rise to fame, from would-be rockers trying to earn their rent to complete rock gods. After Jack Black has a rock-opera style fight with his father (played by singer Meat Loaf), rock legend Dio appears to young JB and tells him to go to Hollywood to create the greatest band of all time. Following several trips to the wrong Hollywood — that is, the Hollywoods in Tennessee, Virginia, and Florida — JB finally makes it to California, where he finds KG.

While their relationship is rocky at first, they eventually form Tenacious D and set out to make their name by becoming the greatest rock band of all time, involving their search for a guitar pick made from Satan's tooth.

Their trip to stardom is funny, but at times completely disconnected and bizarre. JB's hallucinogenic trip after eating mushrooms in a forest is way too long for its own good, and the car chase at the end seems to be an excuse to play a Tenacious D song which is (oddly enough) about the car chase.

Fortunately, the D's music is as good as ever. “Master Exploder” is so heavy that it literally causes a fan's head to explode in the movie. The only thing is, it would save time to just buy the movie's soundtrack and skip the movie. Also, every song is drowning in profanity.

Another problem is that the movie is full of inside jokes only fans of the D are likely to understand. The band's inability to remember the song with which they defeated Satan (played by Foo Fighters drummer Grohl) in a rock-off is the story behind the band's song “Tribute,” but people unacquainted with the band just wouldn't get it. The same goes for the band's discussion of pushups with no hands — only those familiar with the band are likely to catch the reference, even if it is funny by itself.

So is this “the greatest motion picture of all time,” as the movie's advertisements have said? Not really. There are enough laughs to carry the movie until the end, but these are quickly taken too far and become nothing more than an excuse to use tons of profanity or talk about not wanting to become Satan's sex slave.

While fans of Jack Black and Tenacious D will have to see this movie, it doesn't really have much appeal outside of those circles, unless you just want to hear JB improvise some obscene lyrics to classical music.

“Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny” is now playing at the Savoy 16 (click here for times) and the Beverly Cinema 18 (click here for times). Runtime: 93 minutes. Rated: R.

RELATED

— The film's official site

— Tenacious D's official site