Tenacious D In The Pick Of Destiny

Comedy, Music

Jack Black	JB
Kyle Gass	KG
Jason Reed	Lee
Ronnie James Dio	Himself
Paul F. Tompkins
Troy Gentile	Lil' JB

Director	Liam Lynch
Producer	Stuart Cornfeld; Georgia Kacandes
Writer	Marv Wolfman; Jack Black
Cinematography	Robert Brinkmann
Musician	Andrew Gross

You don't have to be a munchie-loving stoner or an aspiring rock god to enjoy Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, but it helps. A dozen years after they introduced their mock-rock power duo on the Los Angeles club scene, Jack Black and Kyle Gass finally got the movie showcase (a partial spinoff from the D's short-lived HBO series) their fans had been waiting for, and it's a rockin' romp with plenty of crude laughs that will hit home for anyone who's ever played air guitar to Meat Loaf's "Bat out of Hell." It's a Beavis and Butt-head-like origin story, recalling the legend (ahem) of how JB (Black) and KG (Gass) met, bonded over bong-hits and rock-operatic guitar licks, then set out (on a tip from a crazed guitar-store clerk played by Ben Stiller) to find the mythic pick of destiny, used by all guitar gods and said to be fashioned from the tooth of Satan. Their quest includes a variety of well-cast cameos (including Tim Robbins, Meat Loaf, and Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl as Satan himself), and there's plenty of flatulence, drug humor, at least one hilarious fantasy sequence, and outrageous sight gags too numerous to mention. Suffice it to say, it's about 90 minutes of lowbrow indulgence, and some of the jokes fall flat, but if you're a headbanger at heart, you'll know what Tenacious D is riffing on, and the sweet licks (also available on the soundtrack CD) will sound that much sweeter. If you're not ready to RAWK, this potential cult favorite may not be for you... but give it try anyway. It may not be better than Citizen Kane, but if you're properly stoked, it comes close to rock & roll heaven. --Jeff Shannon