Bad Teacher

3.5/4

Starring: Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake, Lucy Punch, Jason Segel, Phyllis Smith

Rated R for Sexual Content, Nudity, Language and Some Drug Use

“Bad Teacher” is a deliciously black comedy that has the guts to go all the way.  Apart from a weak ending, this movie is the kind of movie I like best.  It’s full of blacker than black humor, and this “take no prisoners” approach is refreshing from loads of comedies that tiptoe around edgy material, or avoid it all together.

Elizabeth Halsey (Diaz) is in a rut.  She’s just been dumped by her sugar daddy, so she has to return to teaching.  Not that that makes much of a difference since she won’t do anything while she’s there, but she does have to get up in the morning and there’s no one to pay her expenses.  Elizabeth hates teaching, and she makes no secret of it.  She abuses her students, comes to school stoned, drunk or both, and won’t date anyone who doesn’t have a lot of cash for her to burn.  But she wants a new sugar daddy so she doesn’t have to deal with those little brats.  A solution comes her way with Scott Delacourt (Timberlake), the new substitute teacher who comes from a wealthy family.  To make herself more attractive (especially since her goody two-shoes rival, Amy Squirrel (Punch) also has her eye on Scott), she decides to get a boob job, but she can’t front the hefty $10,000 price tag.

Cameron Diaz is perfectly cast as Elizabeth, the middle school teacher from hell.  It’s hard to imagine that this is the same person who drove everyone mad with love in “There’s Something About Mary.”  “Bad Teacher” is considerably darker than the already black Farrelly Brothers movie, but it’s just as funny.  Much of that has to do with Diaz’s skill.  Elizabeth is definitely not someone who you would want teaching your kids.  She does some really reprehensible things, like showing slasher movies to kids who are just starting puberty.  And that’s just the start.  When Elizabeth sees an opportunity to make a significant amount of money by helping her students, I was worried that the movie would try to redeem her, but never fear.  Her motives are purely selfish, and she’s still got the bad attitude and complete lack of anything resembling a conscience.

The multi-talented Diaz is surrounded by an able supporting cast.  Lucy Punch is great as the way too nice and perky Amy.  She’s one of those people who is so full of sunshine and enthusiasm that you just want to strangle her.  Yet, when she’s pushed over the edge, she can be a real bitch.  Jason Segel, who plays the kind gym teacher who is constantly asking Elizabeth out on dates, is no stranger to comedy, but his role is rather small.  The weak link is Justin Timberlake.  Although he has a firm grasp of comic timing, his range is severely limited.  He lacks the talent and presence to really sell his character.  Timberlake has done some solid work in film before, like in “Alpha Dog” and in “The Social Network,” (the latter of which, I’m ashamed to admit, could have warranted an Oscar nomination), but based on the evidence it’s pretty clear that he needs to be cast in the right role with the right director.

It takes a deft hand to make a comedy this dark without going overboard.  One of the dangers of making a black comedy is that it becomes severely uncomfortable to watch without being funny.  Director Jake Kasdan avoids this pitfall by not humanizing his characters.  We’re not supposed to like anyone in this movie (except maybe Segel), and that makes it easy to laugh at the jokes.

After nearly a perfect run without turning the movie into something lighter and generic, the film gives in and gives us a happy ending.  It doesn’t work and it feels like a cheat.  Whether it was changed due to poor test screenings or studio interference, it causes the movie to end on a sour note (although it does recover a little in the final shot).  Still, I laughed hard and I laughed often.  That’s really all I ask in a comedy.