School of Rock
Times are tough for Dewey Finn (Jack Black). He's part of a rock band that hopes to win the Battle of the Bands competition coming up. His roommate, Ned (writer Mike White) along with his girlfriend Patty (Sarah Silverman) frown upon the numerous times Dewey has borrowed money from him and want him to get a job. His dreams of rock stardom come crashing down after he's kicked out of the band in favor of someone younger. So broke in more ways than one, a savior comes in the form of Principal Rosalie Mullins (Joan Cusack), who seeks the services of Ned to substitute for a class. When Dewey finds out the money he'd make as a sub, he becomes Ned and begins to substitute a class of 4th graders. While he has no business being a substitute teacher, Dewey stumbles upon their music class and soon comes up with the idea to start a band with members of the whole class. In a few short weeks, Dewey has managed to get the class to live and breathe rock and roll, unbeknownst to their parents or the principal. But disguised as a class project, more questions are asked than answered and Dewey must find a way to keep things together until the big day.

Black hasn't reached the levels of a successful mainstream comedian but this movie raises his level significantly. His character is one-of-a-kind and throughout the course of events through the movie, his values stay true to form, treating music like God and spreading his knowledge of it to inquiring minds. And while his means of communicating his message was ultimately flawed, and in some ways a bit disturbing, he gets the job done with a hilarious over-the-top feel. The kids are great co-stars, both in their acting ability and their musical talents. I only wish they could have included Cusack in the movie more, her role highlighted, and basically limited, to a Stevie Nicks performance. But the band School of Rock is the thing to see in the movie "School of Rock" and what we need now is an encore. 3.5 stars