Bad Words
3/4
Starring: Jason Bateman, Kathryn Hahn, Rohan Chand, Philip Baker Hall, Allison Janney
Rated R for Crude and Sexual Content, Language and Brief Nudity
You gotta love a movie that has the guts to be as deliciously nasty as "Bad Words." Because it stars the one-note comic actor Jason Bateman, I was fearing it would be the second coming of "Identity Thief." Fortunately I was wrong. Although it's a little too long, "Bad Words" is an often hilarious dark comedy.
Guy Trilby (Bateman) is the world's biggest asshole. He's a bigger jerk than Roger Swanson from "Roger Dodger." He insults and berates everyone he comes into contact with, and is not above cheating and humiliating the other contestants in a kid's spelling bee. You see, Guy has found a loophole that would allow him to compete in a spelling bee against kids who haven't yet hit puberty. And, for reasons not immediately revealed, he intends on winning it. Naturally, this infuriates just about everyone, including the bee's director, Dr. Bernice Deagan (a very low-key Janney). But Guy has the spelling skills to take on any bizarre word that they can throw at him. Then there's a weird kid named Chaitanya Chopra (Chand), who insists on being Guy's friend.
How bad is Guy? Without spoiling the surprises, I'll say this: he takes a kid on a night out that would make the guys from "The Hangover" jealous, makes fun of kids a quarter of his age on national TV in order to win (including sabotage), and does some truly awful things with ketchup (what those are is something I'll leave you to discover).
Guy is also unrepentant, which gives the film its edge. Had Bateman given the character a sort of "wink wink" kind of feel, few of the jokes would have worked. But because Bateman doesn't soften him, the jokes are hilarious.
When I wrote my review of Jason Bateman's last film, the unspeakably horrid "Identity Thief," I said that he should either start going after straight, non-comic roles or retire. Guy Trilby is neither, but there's none of Bateman's usual "meek doormat" schtick so it works. Bateman is expanding his range, and it works. His co-stars are less successful. Kathyrn Hahn is boring, Rohand Chan is almost too cute for his own good, while Philip Baker Hall and Allison Janney compete with each other to see who does the best job of blending into the background.
This is Bateman's directorial debut, and he proves that he knows what he's doing. He has a good grasp of comic timing and knows just how far to push the jokes without becoming cruel to the audience. There is one instance where it approaches this line, but Bateman stays on the right line, which results in one of the movie's biggest laughs (and there are plenty of contenders for that honor).
The problem is the ending. It goes for the easy, feel-good route instead of staying the course. While it's not overly schmaltzy and Bateman finds a few new riffs to make it seem fresh, it's still a little disappointing.
Still, there are more than enough guffaws to justify an admission ticket.
Starring: Jason Bateman, Kathryn Hahn, Rohan Chand, Philip Baker Hall, Allison Janney
Rated R for Crude and Sexual Content, Language and Brief Nudity
You gotta love a movie that has the guts to be as deliciously nasty as "Bad Words." Because it stars the one-note comic actor Jason Bateman, I was fearing it would be the second coming of "Identity Thief." Fortunately I was wrong. Although it's a little too long, "Bad Words" is an often hilarious dark comedy.
Guy Trilby (Bateman) is the world's biggest asshole. He's a bigger jerk than Roger Swanson from "Roger Dodger." He insults and berates everyone he comes into contact with, and is not above cheating and humiliating the other contestants in a kid's spelling bee. You see, Guy has found a loophole that would allow him to compete in a spelling bee against kids who haven't yet hit puberty. And, for reasons not immediately revealed, he intends on winning it. Naturally, this infuriates just about everyone, including the bee's director, Dr. Bernice Deagan (a very low-key Janney). But Guy has the spelling skills to take on any bizarre word that they can throw at him. Then there's a weird kid named Chaitanya Chopra (Chand), who insists on being Guy's friend.
How bad is Guy? Without spoiling the surprises, I'll say this: he takes a kid on a night out that would make the guys from "The Hangover" jealous, makes fun of kids a quarter of his age on national TV in order to win (including sabotage), and does some truly awful things with ketchup (what those are is something I'll leave you to discover).
Guy is also unrepentant, which gives the film its edge. Had Bateman given the character a sort of "wink wink" kind of feel, few of the jokes would have worked. But because Bateman doesn't soften him, the jokes are hilarious.
When I wrote my review of Jason Bateman's last film, the unspeakably horrid "Identity Thief," I said that he should either start going after straight, non-comic roles or retire. Guy Trilby is neither, but there's none of Bateman's usual "meek doormat" schtick so it works. Bateman is expanding his range, and it works. His co-stars are less successful. Kathyrn Hahn is boring, Rohand Chan is almost too cute for his own good, while Philip Baker Hall and Allison Janney compete with each other to see who does the best job of blending into the background.
This is Bateman's directorial debut, and he proves that he knows what he's doing. He has a good grasp of comic timing and knows just how far to push the jokes without becoming cruel to the audience. There is one instance where it approaches this line, but Bateman stays on the right line, which results in one of the movie's biggest laughs (and there are plenty of contenders for that honor).
The problem is the ending. It goes for the easy, feel-good route instead of staying the course. While it's not overly schmaltzy and Bateman finds a few new riffs to make it seem fresh, it's still a little disappointing.
Still, there are more than enough guffaws to justify an admission ticket.
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