Who knew Jason Bateman could be so good at playing a dick? I sure didn't but in Bad Words, his directorial debut, that's exactly what he plays. And he does it with panache. Jason plays Guy Trilby, a bitter, disgruntled, proof reader who through the motions of crushing children's hopes and pissing off a horde of parents as he makes his way through them like a hot knife through blah blah blah. He is a man that finds a loophole in the rule book, exploits it, and decides to participate in a regional spelling bee in Ohio that would send the winner to the national spelling bee. He is unrepentant, unremoresful, and vicious in his attempt to beat out kids who have worked so hard and studied so much to get to where they are. Needless to say the parents want him drawn and quartered.
Guy makes it to the national spelling bee, the first one to be televised across the country so the man in charge, Dr. Bowman played by the seasoned Phillip Baker Hall wants everything to go perfectly. Guy throws a huge monkey wrench into that program every chance he gets which prompts Bowman to apply pressure to the president of the spelling bee, Dr. Bernice Deagan, played hilariously by the incomparable Allison Janney to get rid of Guy. She does something not exactly above board to make that happen but nothing can derail the freight train that is Guy. The man is on a mission and all this is being observed by Jenny Widgeon, play by the hilarious Kathryn Hahn, a reporter from a local paper that's financing this escapade for the exclusive story (the sex scene between Guy and Jenny...priceless). The heart of this story comes in the form of one of Guy's competitors, little Chaitanya Chopra, played by the charming and talented Rohan Chand. Because Chai's dad has an odd way of trying to toughen his son up, Guy eventually warms up to the kid and takes him under his wing. The ending of the movie, where you find out Guy's reasons for wanting to win the spelling bee, and the development of his friendship with Chai is definitely rewarding.
Written by first time scribe Andrew Dodge, Bad Words is searing in its humor and balanced by its heart. My issues with the movie on a whole is the look and the pacing. Bad Words looked like it was filmed by someone who forgot to take the filters off the lens. It was dark and muddy at times when it should have been bright and colorful. The music by the amazing Rolfe Kent is perfect, it matches Guy's moods and attitude perfectly so well done to you Mr. Kent. Bad Words is not a must see, but if you do see I have no doubt that you will be entertained like I was. I'll see you at the theater.
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