"I pledge allegiance to the band..."

Another Jack Black and Mike White classic endeavor, “School of Rock” upholds standards previously set by “Orange County” and more recently reinstated by “Nacho Libre” for outright comedy with only a touch of perversion.

In the film Jack Black plays his signature character, the slacker, as Dewey Finn, a man grasping to the highlights of his youth. Once ejected from the band he formed, he’s forced to pursue monetary means elsewhere. Through pure coincidence and dumb luck, he takes a job intended for roommate and former band member Ned Schneebly (Mike White) as a substitute teacher at “the best elementary school in the state”, doing a job he hasn’t the qualifications nor the motivation to do.

Once enlightened of his class’s ability to play music, Dewey has an epiphany. As his way to “stick it to the man”, he manipulates the students to form a band under the pretense that it is something school-sanctioned. Despite his selfish intentions, he leads the kids along a path of self-discovery as Zach (Joey Gaydos Jr.) embraces his talent as a “shredder” and confronts his father about his dream and Summer (Miranda Cosgrove) funnels her brown-nosing tendencies into becoming the band manager.

Admirably, the movie takes the more believable route when it comes to the “Battle of the Bands” and Dewey’s band is not the victor but, as the audience is mostly composed of the student’s parents, they receive the call for an encore. The movie does have its feel-good ending however. Dewey scores his dream job teaching music, the band members being his primary pupils, and Ned abandons his traditional 9-5 ways by teaching the “beginning” class of four-year-olds- playing to the unbelievability of finding such talent in elementary school aged kids.

The immaturity of Dewey and the diversity of the students make the film easy for the younger members to relate to while the various allusions to 70’s rock bands, most notably AC/DC, and dry humor appeal to a more mature audience, making this a truly smart family film.