by MATTHEW HAYS

Mike White is about as far from the stereotype of a slick Hollywood hotshot as one could get. He is soft-spoken and slightly awkward. He plays with his hands as we sit down at the Toronto International Film Festival to discuss his latest project. He really doesn't seem so far off from the arrested-stage-of-development man-child he played in Chuck and Buck, the cult movie he scripted.

Now, he's chatting up The School of Rock - which, as it turns out, is becoming one of the most critically acclaimed films of the season. The film has Jack Black playing a down-and-out rocker, deluded about his own talents and ultimately kicked out of his low-rent band. His roommate (played by White), is a former band member himself who has given it all up to go straight, by becoming a substitute teacher. Desperate for money, Black gets a call to do a sub teaching stint at a stuffy private school and, pretending to be White, goes in and takes over the class for a month.

Avoiding studio pap

It sounds like one of those truly stupid studio movies, except that the talent assembled couldn't possibly deliver something mediocre. White's screenplay is quite brilliant, gently mocking studio screenwriting clichés rather than feeling constrained by them. And Black has never been better, actually carrying the vast majority of the film almost single-handedly. As well, Richard Linklater was chosen to direct, meaning any tendencies to lean towards the maudlin have been avoided. This is exceptional family-suitable moviemaking, something that has prompted a number of critics to compare Rock to the gritty '76 kiddie crowd pleaser The Bad News Bears.

Which makes sense, as White cites it as a major influence. "I loved that movie,'' he says, growing ever more childlike. "It's actually much more realistic. There's a lot of cursing in that movie. We weren't able to do that. In this day and age, you could never get the rating we got if you had done all the things that were done in Bears. There are certain compromises you have to stomach from the get-go."

White is only too aware that studio films full of children are open to all sorts of pratfalls. "Studio movies like that can be the most painful to sit through. What I wanted to do was to make the kind of film the 10-year-old me would have cheered for, would have watched over and over again. A film that would inspire you to go out and do something creative."

Drawing on Black

White, who is best known for penning two collaborations with director Miguel Arteta, Chuck and Buck and The Good Girl, says his main inspiration for Rock was Jack Black himself. "Jack always gets to play the party animal who crashes through the glass. There's a real sweetness, an unpretentiousness, an inclusiveness to Jack that I thought we could bring out. The way he treats the misfits in the movie, that was something I wanted him to be able to do. How he allows them to see themselves as rock superstars. I think it ends up being a sweeter movie than you'd expect from Jack Black."

Due to Black's ingenious delivery, much of the film actually seems ad libbed. But White says the script was followed very closely. "There are moments he improvved, but he actually prefers it scripted. I think that sense is more testament to the fact that we're good friends and that I wrote this for him. He's very talented at making things look like they're spontaneous."

Among all the misfit kiddies, White has included a queer kid, who likes Liza Minelli and ends up designing the kiddie-rock band's outfits. Openly bisexual, White says he wanted the film to offer points of identification for all kids who are different, including the overweight and geeky.

"Hopefully, being gay or bisexual in America won't continue to be a big deal. As much as we still see a lot of fear, I see a lot of progress too. There's much more of a willingness for people to be open about it. There's always going to be resistance to change, but change will come eventually."

The School of Rock opens Friday, Oct. 3

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