School of Rock

WHAT'S IT ABOUT? Amateur musician Dewey Finn's life is a mess. His band has sacked him as their guitarist and his flatmate's getting arsey about his freeloading. In a bid to solve money and music problems, Finn poses as a substitute teacher at a posh prep school, forming a rock band with the members of his class. He hopes his pupils can enter a battle of the bands competition and that he can walk off with the prize money.

WHO'S IN IT? Jack Black of Shallow Hal fame, veteran comedienne Joan (sister of John) Cusack... and a bunch of precocious kids.

BEST SCENE: Dewey lectures his class. 'There used to be a way to stick it to The Man, it was called rock'n'roll. But guess what? Oh no, The Man ruined that, too, with a little thing called MTV!'

TO BE HONEST: Peppered with references to great rock bands (AC/DC, KISS, the Sex Pistols, er, Rush) School Of Rock is a family movie with a distinctly adult edge. Director Richard Linklater keeps the schmaltz to a minimum (even in the heart-warming finale), while Black dominates as a speed-talking dervish who delivers every line as if his life - and the future of rock'n'roll - depended on it. More laughs than a Jimmy Page axe solo.