More like intentional foul: "Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny"

No need to spend too much time on this, since it -- as our pal JB said early in "High Fidelity" -- sucks a$$.

Too bad, since I actually like Jack Black. Funny sidekick in "The Cable Guy," goofball supreme in the aforementioned "Fidelity," nutty astronaut in "Heat Vision and Jack," and, of course, wannabe teacher in "School of Rock." Hell, I even thought "Shallow Hal" wasn't bad, which definitely puts me in the minority. So yeah, I'm down with Jack, from lead roles to his "That's how I roll" turn in "Anchorman."

Alas, then he tried to do semi-serious in "King Kong." Now all bets are off.

The sad thing about "Tenacious D" is that it came, oh, seven years too late. If it had come out after two or three years of underground buzz, way back in 1999-2000, then it would have only helped Black's rep as a kooky guy who can actually sing and riff and all that. Heck, it may have given Kyle Gass -- the other part of this duo -- a little work, too.

Instead, this movie finally came out well after Black was a star. Doesn't work so well when he's supposed to be struggling along with his bud to make it big as a rock star, especially given the lame script and overall malaise. Yeah, I guess you can say I was disappointed. And that's even when I didn't expect much.

Our story has Black, fleeing home to make it big as a singer, stumbling across Gass, a street guitarist. Eventually they decide to join forces, and the key to their success shall be a magical pick that many successful hard rockers before them have used. Now if they can only steal it from a rock and roll museum ...

I'll admit there are a few funny numbers here, with the best maybe the dream sequence where our heroes are rocking at an open mike night. I guess the gig simulator was OK, too. But overall, I was left waiting for laughs, and no amount of Black's spastic behavior compensated for that.

Even worse, the apparent stunt casting failed on a monumental level. First, I didn't recognize Meat Loaf as young JB's dad. Second, Ronnie James Dio looked pretty damn old to be a metal rocker who inspires Black. Third, Dave Grohl as Satan was unrecognizable. Fourth, Ben Stiller is nothing special as a cameo these days. Fifth, Tim Robbins ... ditto. Too bad, too, since Robbins can be a Capital-A Actor. Too often in the last 10 years, though, he seems content to walk onto a set and ham it up for the kids. Ooooh, funny funny!

So yeah, this didn't do much for me. True, I expected little, summoning it from Netflix while My True Radiance was away. Still, Black should be good for more than this. I just read one dipsh!t comment that put this in the league of "This is Spinal Tap." Um, no. Not even close. Nowhere near 11.