Music has surprising power when married to images on a screen — a phenomenon emphasized by “The School of Rock.”

The film tells the story of a down-and-out rock star wannabe named Dewey Finn (Jack Black, in the role he was born to play) who is unexpectedly hired as a substitute teacher at a ritzy private school. Rosalie Mullins (Evanston native Joan Cusack) plays his employer and is perfectly at home as an uptight school principal.

Using the name of his aspiring-teacher friend Ned Schneebly (the eccentric Mike White, who also scripted the film), Finn teaches a diverse array of classically-trained fifth-grade music students how to play their instruments like rock stars. At this point, the film simultaneously takes off as a loving portrait of children and education as well as a fast-paced, aggressive love letter to rock ‘n’ roll. Not only does the soundtrack feature the likes of Led Zeppelin, the Who and the Doors, it also highlights some wonderful original music written by Craig Wedren, who also scored the underrated 2003 release “Laurel Canyon.”

Indeed, “The School of Rock” is an ode to the power of music. While Cameron Crowe’s semi-autobiographical “Almost Famous” (2000) told a musically-themed story with a clear vision and mature voice, it failed to capture exactly why rock music has resonated with so many millions of people. “The School of Rock” fills in the gaps of Crowe’s nostalgic portrait with its simple and direct message — music is not only the tie that binds us together as human beings, it also allows us peace of mind in the more solitary moments of our lives.

Finn is so passionate and enthusiastic, he doesn’t care what rules he breaks while trying to instill a common love of music and understanding of why rock ‘n’ roll matters into his students’ minds.

In all honesty, the film is definitely not that didactic — it doesn’t need to be. Everything is clear, from the creatively executed opening titles to the entertaining final credits. Director Richard Linklater, White, Black and all the other great minds behind “The School of Rock” want to show you the ways in which cinema can so easily capture the beauty and power of music. Many people have taken the important role music plays in film for granted, even in the silent era, when music, for the most part, was the only sound that accompanied the images on the screen. “The School of Rock” is one of the few films that puts music in the foreground.

Linklater is no stranger to marrying music and image; his “Dazed and Confused” (1993) very blatantly demonstrated the key role that rock ‘n’ roll played in the lives of teenagers in the 1970s. Here he spells it out for the audience: in one key montage, set to the Ramones’ riveting “Bonzo Goes to Bitburg,” Linklater illustrates the many layers working in Finn’s struggle to convey the amount of passion one can have for music.

The students begin to share in his fervor. They are convinced that their parents are wrong — rock ‘n’ roll is not the product of the devil, but a gift from the musical gods. And this is all the more obvious when hearing such music played along with such a fantastic piece of cinema.

There are probably cynics out there who will take one glance at the ads for “The School of Rock” and dismiss it as a polished teen comedy.

Take that as an accidental compliment. What is so impressive about the production ethics behind “The School of Rock” is how unashamed the makers were with handling this material. When you’ve got a tight, beautifully written screenplay, you should milk it for all it’s worth, regardless of its broad appeal. This may mean that you’ve gone mainstream, but hey — lots of the films outside the usual boundaries aren’t half as good as “The School of Rock.” A

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