School of Rock, The (2003, USA) C-109m. **½ D: Richard Linklater. Starring Jack Black, Joan Cusack, Mike White, Adam Pascal, Robert Tsai, Frank Whaley. Black (of HIGH FIDELITY fame) is a 30-something slacker who dreams of making it as a rock star but sees his chances crushed when he is kicked out of his own band. Then he takes up a job as a teacher (posing as his roommate White) at an elite school, where the children just happen to be fine musicians (in the classical sense). Black's performance is sensational, but the contrivances in the by-the-numbers script are often hard to take. Written by costar White.