Bad Words

2013 comedy

Rating: 14/20 (Jen: 14/20)

Plot: A grown-ass man--out of spite--competes in a spelling bee and pisses everybody off.

Jen and I are both Jason Bateman fans, so I was interested in this, his directorial debut. The drama side of this little adventure is a little pointless and probably predictable, but the comedy, likably subversive, keeps things squirmingly fun. Generally, I'm not a fan of comedies involving adult characters cursing in front of children, but it's fine when Jason Bateman does it because he was that kid on Silver Spoons. The script is littered with the sorts of lines fans of The Hangover IV would chortle at, and I laughed a few times but sort of felt guilty about the whole thing. Bateman's character is the type of character who can only exist in a movie. He's a villain, but if you're a terrible person, you might actually root for the guy even when you have no idea what his motivations might be. Most of the kids are stereotypes, but Rohan Chand was geekily adorable and had good rapport with the star. Their relationship's ups and downs aren't going to seem like anything new, but there's still enough sweetness there and enough of this ability to sort of chip away at the crusty armor of Guy Trilby, that you still appreciate it.