GREAT READS

School of Rock

This movie makes me laugh every time I watch it. After a painfully long guitar solo and a failed stage dive, Dewey Finn (Jack Black) has been kicked out of his rock band, No Vacancy. With no aspirations other than being a rock god, Dewey resigns himself to unemployment until he can get a new band together. While Dewey struggles to make rent, his roommate, Ned Schneebly (played by Mike White, the film's screenwriter), enjoys a steady income as a substitute teacher.

One day, Rosalie Mullins (Joan Cusack), a principal at a local prep school, calls Dewey's apartment looking for Ned to substitute a class of 5th graders for a few weeks. Sensing an opportunity to make some cash, Dewey pretends to be Ned and agrees to start immediately.

Without any intentions of teaching and unable to even spell the name of his assumed identity, Dewey "assigns" free time to the students so he can sleep off his hangover. But when Dewey overhears them in their music class, he snaps out of his complacency, sensing an opportunity to achieve what he could not do himself: win the local Battle of the Bands.

So begins daily, clandestine lessons in how to rock: "sticking it to the man," playing guitar like Led Zeppelin, singing like Aretha Franklin, creating an intense facial expression for greater stage presence... But at every turn, Dewey's secret project threatens to be discovered. Will the class make it all the way to Battle of the Bands and beat No Vacancy?

This movie totally rocks (pardon the pun) and is packed with memorable, quotable lines. With a great cast of kids and hilariously convincing performances by Jack Black and Joan Cusack, this movie fully earned its 7.2 out of 10 rating on IMDB.com and its overwhelming critical success. This would be especially entertaining to all you classic rock fans out there!

Recommended by Leah Youse