School of Rock

Dewey Finn, a hard rock singer and guitarist, is unanimously voted out of his band by the rest of the members for his arrogance and frequent hyperactive stage antics. His submissive roommate and lifelong friend Ned Schneebly (writer Mike White), a substitute teacher, threatens Dewey with eviction under heavy pressure from his girlfriend Patty Di Marco unless Dewey "gets a real job" and pays off his growing rent debt. Dewey feels forced to give up his passion until he intercepts a phone call to Ned from the principal of a prestigious prep school, Rosaline Mullins, asking Ned to fill in for a teacher who would be out for several weeks. Desperate for cash to avoid getting evicted, Dewey impersonates Ned and takes the job as a substitute teacher for the fifth-grade class.

Dewey's only goal as a teacher is to expend as little effort as possible. However, one day he overhears his pupils playing in music class and realizes that some of the children in the class have musical talent. He decides to turn his temporary job into what he tells them is a special class project, but is actually a personal one: to turn a classroom full of kids into a rock band and crew, complete with a ten-year-old manager, a girl called Summer (Miranda Cosgrove) which will serve as a vehicle to stardom, ultimately to win the upcoming Battle of the Bands, where he is out to avenge his eviction from his old band and win the $20,000 prize.

After realizing that most of the kids are into pop and contemporary music, Dewey turns the school days into lessons of rock history and music playing, exposing his students to those artists he regards as rock legends. Six rock stars are featured with classic footage in the movie: Jimi Hendrix, Iggy Pop, Pete Townshend, Angus Young, Keith Moon and Kurt Cobain, and bands such as The Ramones and Alice in Chains.In addition, during a montage, the drummer, Freddy, is seen watching footage of the famous drum battle between Buddy Rich and Ed Shaughnessy.

Dewey watches as his students begin to discover the power of rock music. When the principal meets with him to check on their progress, Dewey attempts to revive any old love for rock he finds in her, by finding out she likes Stevie Nicks and playing her song "Edge of Seventeen" on a jukebox. Finally, the kids audition for the Battle of the Bands, which Dewey told them was their "school project." They are turned back because they show up too late. With Summer's help prior, Dewey persuades the Battle's managers by lying that the students are all terminally ill with "stick-it-to-da-man-niosis", a fictional rare blood disease, and out of compassion, they allow the students to perform in the Battle of the Bands. However, during a parent-teacher night in which he meets the students' parents, Ned appears and confronts Dewey (due almost entirely to his girlfriend's persuasion of coaxing it out of him). His real identity is revealed, and he is fired from the school, though he runs first due to misconstrued words. Considering himself a failure, he falls into a funk, and pulls himself out only when the students, on their way to the contest via schoolbus, plead with him to join them for the Battle of the Bands.

The movie culminates in the musical playoff, where, instead of playing Dewey's "Legend of the Rent" they play "School of Rock", a song written by young band member Zack Mooneyham, the lead guitarist. The class loses the contest to Dewey's old band. But the students can accept their defeat because Dewey's "School of Rock" has increased their self-esteem, and given them an understanding that rock transcends traditional notions of success and failure, pointing out that the Sex Pistols have never won any major awards. The crowd becomes angered by No Vacancy's victory and call for the School of Rock to come back onstage. The band comes back onstage again and plays "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" by AC/DC, with some of the lyrics altered.

It then shows Summer arguing a deal over the cell phone as she enters the School of Rock, a newly openned after-school program where Dewey continues to coach the band and Ned teaches the younger ones, and the credits roll as the band sings "The movie is over, but we're still on screen" breaking the fourth wall.