The character Jack Black called “an irredeemable guy”
Jack Black has built an incredibly profitable and well-liked career by being the nice guy. His hapless but well-meaning substitute teacher in School Of Rock, his unlikely hero and animated fursona in the Kung-Fu Panda series, and even his time as one-half of feelgood comedy rock band Tenacious D are all extensions of his chaotic good brand. It’s rare for him to deviate from this tried-and-tested formula.
Rare but not unheard of; Black does have a real flair for black comedies, after all, which naturally tend to revolve around less likeable characters. For instance, in 2008’s Bernie, his least well-remembered Richard Linklater collaboration, Black played a small-town mortician, endeared to the entire community he served, save for happy, elderly grouch Marjorie, played by Shirley McLane. Rumoured to be a pursuer of older women, Black’s titular character does indeed strike up a relationship with her, a doomed path that leads to the mutually assured destruction of both lives.
But this quieter, more nuanced role of questionable morality was nothing compared to Daniel Gregory Landsman – the title nicknamed character in 2015’s The D Train. Even more lost to time than Linklater’s Bernie, the plot of The D Train involves a 20-year high school reunion planned by Black’s Landsman as the self-appointed chairman of the alumni committee. When Landsman decides his reluctant classmates need extra incentive to attend, he taps James Marsden’s Oliver Lawless, a pseudo-celebrity by way of local TV adverts, to be the guest of honour.
Unlike Black, Landsman is deeply unpopular, sparking even his fellow committee members’ lack of enthusiasm for the event. Luckily, as is so often the case in these odd couple tales, Lawless doesn’t exactly lead a fulfilling life either, leading him to take a shine to his new ‘loser’ sidekick and the extreme measures he concocts to reignite – and rewrite – high school glory. This includes shameless trickery of people Landsman supposedly cares about and wild debauchery, leaving a sour taste that fails to be sweetened by the climax.
Following Bernie and falling in the middle of Black’s initial Kung-Fu Panda era, The D Train was a major misfire for Black. For most critics, the film didn’t work dramatically or comedically – neither building on his ability to take on darker roles nor adding greater shine to the more wholesome light fans were used to. Seemingly aware of these failings but not necessarily too perturbed by them, Black characterised Landsman as an “irredeemable guy” to Rolling Stone in 2015, following his statement with a grin, the writer notes.
The actor has continued to dabble in more niche projects since, such as the quirky, Nacho Libre-esque The Polka King, spoof-tacular biopic Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, and Gus Van Sant’s portrait of a waning alcoholic cartoonist, Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot. But his more family-friendly fare has only gone from strength to strength, with huge, IP-based money-makers like the Jumanji reboots, animated Super Mario Bros. movie, and yet more Kung-Fu Panda becoming his bread and butter.
This is the side of Black younger audiences are getting acquainted with, a far cry from his darker forays in the mid-2010s that, with greater success, might have sent him down a very different path.
