(PCM) Jason Bateman (“Identity Thief”) makes his feature directorial debut with the subversive comedy BAD WORDS. He stars as Guy Trilby, a 40-year-old who finds a loophole in the rules of The Golden Quill national spelling bee and decides to cause trouble by hijacking the competition. While reporter Jenny Widgeon (Kathryn Hahn of “We’re the Millers”) attempts to discover his true motivation, Guy finds himself forging an unlikely alliance with a competitor: awkward 10-year-old Chaitanya Chopra (Rohan Chand of “Homeland”), who is completely unfazed by Guy’s take-no-prisoners approach to life.
Bateman gets to step completely out of usual straight man act, and he really takes advantage of it. The films premise is simple enough; a disgruntled man enters a enters a children’s spelling bee through a loophole to prove some point, that will be revealed throughout the film. As the contest goes on, “Guy” befriends an 11 year-old fellow competitor, and as you can imagine, hijinks ensue.
There is no doubt that Jason Bateman brings a little bit of “ Michael Bluth” into every role he takes on, but in his directorial debut, Bateman really brings on the characters’ resentment, that we all know he’s capable of, but usually holds back a bit in previous roles. Its great to see Bateman honestly looking like he’s having fun with a role, and its not just his performance. As a whole the movie feels like a breath of fresh air, something a bit different and defiantly screwed up. Fans of deadpan delivery should definitely enjoy this film. The way that Bateman’s character, Guy, treats children is uncanny. Nobody dies or gets physically hurt. But feelings? A childs’ feelings? They don’t just get hurt… they get smashed to bits, horrifically and often very profanely.
The heart of the movie is all about the relationship between Guy and Chaitainya, which is both hilarious and unexpectedly tender. “Bad Words” is a movie about loneliness and kids in need of better parenting, not to mention a ridiculous buddy flick involving an adult who dishes out a vivid verbal takedown of a unlikable mothers’ vagina and a kid who gets drunk and debates whether all women have nipples. All in all it’s a dark comedy that can make us believe in the friendship between a wounded jerk and a lost child and the ability in doing something right.
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