Day 213 - Bad Teacher

Saturday November 19, 2011

Bad Teacher (2011) directed by Jake Kasdan

After a 12 hour tour today and another 12 hour tour that starts early tomorrow (I'm in Israel right now), I decided to pick one of the easy movies I had saved up, something I had zero expectations for but was mildly surprised with, Bad Teacher. 

There is nothing worse than a middling vanilla comedy that plays it safe. Those rarely illicit any big laughs or get a bigger reaction than perhaps a yawn. Bad Teacher knows it's not going to be a great movie but it at least has the decency to make no apologies. It is tasteless, sleazy, raunchy and stars a completely unlikable lead character. It is also quite funny, amusingly offensive and mildly entertaining. Notice the lukewarm superlatives I use. I begrudgingly give this film a passing score for doing what it sets out to do. 

Cameron Diaz plays Elizabeth Halsey who isn't just a bad teacher, she is a plain bad person. She's a selfish, scornful gold digger who is only a teacher for the short hours and extended vacations. Her idea of teaching involves showing movies in class while she sneaks a sip of hard liquor she's got hidden away in her desk. You aren't meant to like her, and for the most part you don't, even with her inevitable 180 degree sort of turn. However, I do like Cameron Diaz who even at her very worst is someone you still want to watch. Perhaps it is because we've never seen this side of her before, so delightfully filthy.

A pleasant surprise in the film is Elizabeth's rival, the comically enthusiastic Amy Squirrel, played by Lucy Punch. She is bouncy and lovable and has an attitude and energy that reminds me of Kristin Wiig, which is a comparison I don't use lightly. Jason Segel and Justin Timberlake round up the major players of the film but they sort of take a backseat to the rivalry between Elizabeth and Amy.

As far as the plot goes, it develops as you think it should with the obligatory turn by Elizabeth. Some of the plot elements are beyond absurd for the purposes of the comedy, but that is okay. Given the outrageousness of Elizabeth's character we can already accept certain transgressions. I suppose there may be an argument about a film being dirty just for the sake of being dirty, but that is a moot point if the film is funny, which Bad Teacher is. To use a really bad teaching analogy, if I were a teacher and a student came to me for extra credit to turn that C+ to a B-, I'd give it him for the effort.

Grade: B-