As a subcategory of the horror genre, the exorcism film does not have the best reputation. For every The Exorcist, there are a dozen Posessed’s and Beyond the Door’s. Yet, when done well, there is rarely something as profoundly [...]
It’s an exciting time for female comedy in Hollywood. In a genre traditionally dominated by men, films such as Bridesmaids are ushering in a new era of woman driven comedy, showing that women can not only be hilarious, but also raucous, disgusting, and lecherous. Bad Teacher hopes to revel in the comedy of female depravity, but instead teaches us that while F is for Funny, it isn’t a passing grade.
Bad Teacher follows Elizabeth Halsey (Cameron Diaz), a boozing, drug-using, man-abusing middle school teacher. Among a cast of passionate teachers, Elizabeth has other priorities. She wants money. A generous critic might assert that Elizabeth’s techniques for making money--namely, getting a breast enhancement surgery to ensnare a wealthy man--is a light commentary on American teachers’ low pay and unappreciated hard work. Most will see it as: an uninspired plot that gives Diaz the opportunity to swagger around, fake hangovers, and contort her face into various absurd expressions meant to indicate her disgust with the children and her role in their education.
Elizabeth’s disdain for the school and her profession is the primary punchline of the film, and Diaz falls short of bringing it humor. Elizabeth is meant to be despicable, but instead is mostly pathetic and mean-spirited. Given a few witty lines and a sharper tongue, the character might have at least carried an edge of discerning intelligence, and offered the audience some interest in her fate.
While the film may be titled Bad Teacher, it’s the good teachers of the cast that bring the real meat to the film. The Office’s Phyllis Smith plays a simpering and insecure teacher that befriends Elizabeth. Justin Timberlake, the wealthy substitute teacher that Elizabeth targets, plays a soft spoken man-child with a penchant for overly sunny responses and, in one scene, singing hilarious original songs.
Notably, Jason Segel delivers most of the film’s best lines in his role as a gym teacher that doggedly pursues Elizabeth. Segel says everything with an amused, wry tone, as if even he is surprised to be starring in this film. He is the only actor in the film that has chemistry with the children, as in one scene when he enters a heated Lebron vs. Jordan debate, and flaunts his sitcom laurels with an unlimited talent for banter. Unfortunately, he and Diaz have no romantic chemistry, and most of his jokes fall on the blank wall of her blinking smile. It is difficult to imagine the two of them making it through a full conversation, much less entering a romantic relationship.
Segel, Timberlake and Smith are just some of the ragtag collection of teachers that make up the “Jam Family”--the staff of Elizabeth’s school. As a group, they are the most appealing part of the film, mirroring the staff of any public school comfortably. For the most part, they are filtered through Elizabeth’s perception, which gives impression of a third person observer that presents the teachers as pitiful but ignorable entities that do little more than inconvenience Elizabeth’s life.
As a result, watching the movie feels like overhearing someone gossiping about a less fortunate friend, or worse, bullying a younger or weaker kid on the playground. Bad Teacher joins a disturbing trend in recent film--also evidenced in The Hangover, Due Date, and Get Him to the Greek--where culturally successful, good looking people take advantage of worse-off and, at times, developmentally disabled accomplices for the audience’s amusement. While Elizabeth might not end up with what she wanted at the end of the film, she certainly doesn’t pay for her various cruelties, and walks away with a worthwhile prize. Meanwhile, other characters in the film, guilty only of competition, or just suspicion, or unrequited lust, are vindictively and almost sadistically punished.
If Bad Teacher teaches us anything, it’s that the attractive and the manipulative not only end up on top, but they also get away with no comeuppance. Elizabeth’s worst lessons to her students are not the ones where she shows movies, or even the classes she sleeps through. They’re the lessons she teaches through example.
Bad Teacher follows Elizabeth Halsey (Cameron Diaz), a boozing, drug-using, man-abusing middle school teacher. Among a cast of passionate teachers, Elizabeth has other priorities. She wants money. A generous critic might assert that Elizabeth’s techniques for making money--namely, getting a breast enhancement surgery to ensnare a wealthy man--is a light commentary on American teachers’ low pay and unappreciated hard work. Most will see it as: an uninspired plot that gives Diaz the opportunity to swagger around, fake hangovers, and contort her face into various absurd expressions meant to indicate her disgust with the children and her role in their education.
Elizabeth’s disdain for the school and her profession is the primary punchline of the film, and Diaz falls short of bringing it humor. Elizabeth is meant to be despicable, but instead is mostly pathetic and mean-spirited. Given a few witty lines and a sharper tongue, the character might have at least carried an edge of discerning intelligence, and offered the audience some interest in her fate.
While the film may be titled Bad Teacher, it’s the good teachers of the cast that bring the real meat to the film. The Office’s Phyllis Smith plays a simpering and insecure teacher that befriends Elizabeth. Justin Timberlake, the wealthy substitute teacher that Elizabeth targets, plays a soft spoken man-child with a penchant for overly sunny responses and, in one scene, singing hilarious original songs.
Notably, Jason Segel delivers most of the film’s best lines in his role as a gym teacher that doggedly pursues Elizabeth. Segel says everything with an amused, wry tone, as if even he is surprised to be starring in this film. He is the only actor in the film that has chemistry with the children, as in one scene when he enters a heated Lebron vs. Jordan debate, and flaunts his sitcom laurels with an unlimited talent for banter. Unfortunately, he and Diaz have no romantic chemistry, and most of his jokes fall on the blank wall of her blinking smile. It is difficult to imagine the two of them making it through a full conversation, much less entering a romantic relationship.
As a result, watching the movie feels like overhearing someone gossiping about a less fortunate friend, or worse, bullying a younger or weaker kid on the playground. Bad Teacher joins a disturbing trend in recent film--also evidenced in The Hangover, Due Date, and Get Him to the Greek--where culturally successful, good looking people take advantage of worse-off and, at times, developmentally disabled accomplices for the audience’s amusement. While Elizabeth might not end up with what she wanted at the end of the film, she certainly doesn’t pay for her various cruelties, and walks away with a worthwhile prize. Meanwhile, other characters in the film, guilty only of competition, or just suspicion, or unrequited lust, are vindictively and almost sadistically punished.
If Bad Teacher teaches us anything, it’s that the attractive and the manipulative not only end up on top, but they also get away with no comeuppance. Elizabeth’s worst lessons to her students are not the ones where she shows movies, or even the classes she sleeps through. They’re the lessons she teaches through example.
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1 comments:
Nice review. Tempted to see this based on the great cast and a funny trailer. After reading your review, I might wait for Netflix.
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