School of Rock

E4 at 10:30pm (Other show times...)

Jack Black (pictured) stars in Richard Linklater's superb musical comedy as Dewey Finn, a slacker rock musician who dreams of the big time. Then his group sack him and his live-in landlady suggests he might actually start paying rent.

Bluffing his way into a job as a supply teacher at an expensive private school, Dewey discovers his class have some musical ability. And if he can harness it to the world of rock and enter them in a Battle of the Bands, he will have found a purpose.

Black's breakthrough role is supported by the smart acting of the ensemble cast of kids, led by the sassy Miranda Cosgrove as Summer Hathaway, and Joan Cusack as the school head Rosalie Mullins. But the film definitely belongs to Black, who initially brings some pathos to his character, failing to understand why the world can't appreciate his talents. And when he finds his niche as a teacher of a subject he loves (but which isn't on the curriculum), he blossoms on screen.

The ending isn't hard to guess, despite the obstacles placed in Black's way, but the film succeeds because it refuses to be patronising or cheap, instead relying on the audience having a brain as well as a heart.

Cast Jack Black ... Dewey Finn Joan Cusack ... Rosalie Mullins Mike White ... Ned Schneebly Miranda Cosgrove ... Summer Hathaway Maryam Hassan ... Tomika Joey Gaydos Jr. ... Zack Mooneyham Robert Tsai ... Lawrence Angelo Massagli ... Frankie Rebecca Brown ... Katie Caitlin Hale ... Marta Cole Hawkins ... Leonard Brian Falduto ... Billy James Hosey ... Marco Aleisha Allen ... Alicia Zachary Infante ... Gordon Kevin Alexander Clark ... Freddy Jones Sarah Silverman ... Patty Di Marco Adam Pascal ... Theo Lucas Papaelias ... Neil Chris Stack ... Doug Directed by Richard Linklater Written by Mike White

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