Preaching to the 'D-fan' choir

By ROBERT DENERSTEIN
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Jack Black and Kyle Gass have been doing their Tenacious D shtick for more than a decade, riffing hard on hard-rocking bands.

The act, a collection of ribald lyrics and high-voltage sound, has a decent-sized cult following.

"Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny," a movie explaining how "the band" was formed, may well preach to the "D-fan" choir. Put another way: you probably already need to be aboard the "D" train to enjoy this trip.

The rest of the world happily can go about its business without having to worry about missing anything _ like, say, real laughs.

For those who don't know, here's some background. Black, the better known of the duo, plays JB, a kid who leaves home and heads for Hollywood in hopes of beginning a career as a rock star. He deserts his fundamentalist family, heeding the satanic call of the music he loves.

Once in L.A., he meets KG (Gass), who's scratching out a living playing guitar on the beach in hopes that passersby will toss him their loose change.

It's telling that the two best bits in "Tenacious D" have nothing do with either Black or Gass, but rather Ben Stiller and Tim Robbins.

Stiller plays the owner of a guitar store who tells JB and KG how they can find a guitar pick that will enable them to play the wildest licks ever. Robbins shows up as a long-haired wild man.

As it turns out, the pick that drives the plot was made from one of the devil's horns. To obtain it, JB and KG must steal it from a rock 'n' roll museum.

Directed in an appropriately ragtag style by Liam Lynch, the movie includes animated sequences, a drug-induced fantasy in which JB meets Sasquatch and a joke involving JB's ...

Never mind, but do remember the film has an "R" rating.

The central conceit involves JB's intensity and devotion to rock, the force that propels the movie toward a finale in which JB and KG face off against the devil to see who plays better guitar.

Once again, we have a movie that packs about 20 minutes of entertainment _ much of it involving the band's occasionally funny lyrics _ into a 90-minute package.

Tenacious D fans may not care. Tenacious viewers probably will.

Grade: C-

Rating: R

Running time: 93 minutes