Review by Louise Keller: Being a Jack Black fan is mandatory for this zany, energetic and relentless buddy movie, rock opera and crass low-brow comedy which no doubt has more appeal with mood enhancers. It is all in the name of rock 'n roll, and Black teams with Kyle Gass in pursuit of a magical green guitar pick, fashioned from the tooth of the devil. Black has a cheeky, likeable demeanour with his quizzical eyes darting furtively and his unruly mop of hair flying in the wind, as he belts out foul-mouthed lyrics and high voltage rock tunes. It's a bit like being struck by musical lightening in a freak electric storm, with an added thunderclap of mad-cap laughs for good measure. In parts inspired, in parts tedious, Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny is a hyperactive dose of Jack Black in a self-indulgent rock fantasy.
'You guys are like electric dynamite,' says JR Reed's pizza delivery guy Lee, when JB adds obscene lyrics to Bach, which KG is busking on the sidewalk. Bald and overweight (after his long black wig is discarded), KG makes an unlikely rock-star candidate, but an amenable stooge for Black. They smoke weed, order Bob Marley extra crispy pizza and decide to call themselves Tenacious D, being a combination of the words scribed by the birthmarks on both their backsides. Highlights include cameos by Meat Loaf (as JB's religious fanatic father), Ben Stiller (as a woolly haired weirdo in the guitar shop) and Tim Robbins (as the one-legged foreigner with bad teeth). Foo Fighters front man Dave Foley makes an imposing and fiery Satan, with whom JB and KG make the wager they cannot lose.
The language is foul and there's plenty of colour (including a magic mushroom fantasy segment). There's a running gag about JB finding different ways to put the tool of his manhood to use which I won't reveal, except to say it involves climbing the Guitarway to God Heaven and hitting a laser switch before a madcap car chase. Tenacious D found its origins as a short-lived television series on HBO. It's raucous fun only for the fans.
