The School of Rock

The School of Rock (2003) is a comedy you can watch online on iFILM, directed by Richard Linklater from an original screenplay by Mike White. Jack Black plays Dewey Finn — a guitarist freshly booted from his own band, broke and out of options.

Dewey intercepts a phone call meant for his roommate and talks his way into a substitute-teaching job at a private elementary school. His plan is to coast on a $650-a-week paycheck. What he finds instead is a classroom full of straight-A fifth-graders who can actually play: Joey Gaydos Jr. on guitar, Kevin Alexander Clark on drums, Rivkah Reyes on bass. Dewey spots a Battle of the Bands entry deadline on the calendar and quietly pivots to training them as his backing band — all without the school's no-nonsense principal Rosalie Mullins (Joan Cusack) catching on. Sarah Silverman and a very young Miranda Cosgrove round out the cast.

Written by Mike White, who also appears on screen as Dewey's long-suffering roommate, the film had its world premiere at TIFF in September 2003 and went on to gross over $131 million worldwide against a $35 million budget. Stream The School of Rock (2003) online on iFILM.