Bad Words (2014)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

We all know Bateman. He's won us over as the only sane person in Arrested Development, we've sympathized with him wanting to kill his boss in Horrible Bosses, we've pitied his life in This is Where I Leave You. Jason Bateman is the official face of the Middle American male. A leading protagonist, half in, half out, great hair, voice of reason, and still wants to get laid. A mild underdog.Well now we get to know Jason's dark side! Not only does Bateman lead in Bad Words, he directed it, and it is a glorious debut.Enter Jason Bateman's Guy Trilby, an acid tongued Joe Schmoe savant with a knack for completely obliterating words in the English language. A true linguist. Wronged by several forces in his life, he seeks revenge on a national spelling bee championship for the title, to satisfy his personal motives which play out through the movie. As passive aggressive and self-serving lone wolf as Guy is, he's followed by two accomplices on his quest; a prying floozy reporter eager to divulge Guy's mysterious agenda, and a fellow competitor in the bee who's been overburdened by stifling parents. Naturally, the sparks fly when organizers and parents of the bee's competitors watch in discern as a 40 year old man out-compete their aspiring pedigree children.This is a dark comedy through and through. Thrilby is a bear getting poked from every stick in the park. But it's important to mention that Thrilby generally acts out on people who wrong him first; only twice does Thrilby pick victims who are undeserving. You have never laughed so hard at the misfortunes of Jason Bateman. At least this time he gets back, with an evenness that we all wish we had a week to think of and execute.If you have a pension for watching antiheroes, Bad Words is for you. If you liked the hijinks of Bad Santa, Bad Words is for you. If you have a deep seeded obsession with Katherine Hahn (like I do), Bad Words is for you. If you like voluptuous black women, Bad Words is for you. If you have an appreciation for unreal instances of people spelling insane words that they seemingly pulled out of their a*ses... Bad Words is for you. And finally, if you love the comradery of a big brother meets little brother bonding story (ala Shane Black), Bad Words is MOST DEFINITELY FOR YOU. Channel your inner grievances and revel in the accomplishments of one man's trials to overcome advisories, with Bad Words.

I thought it was Cliff Curtis' movie because that's whom I saw in one of the posters. Anyway, it's Jason Bateman's movie, which is also his first directional venture. A refreshing theme because only a very few movies were made based on the spelling bee contest, but this one was a bit messed up story narration. Most of the narrative looked so pale and dull. It is supposed to be an exciting storytelling with blistering pace.You know, stories in the movies happen with a backdrop of the reasons. Like a piece of uninteresting wood carved into a something that attracts everybody. Some movie holds it till the end to reveal that beauty in the form of a twist, but some won't mind explaining it along the way. In this movie, what they had for the twist was lifeless, boring one, more like a cliché from the older days flick.The boy from the movie 'Jack and Jill' was decent. I felt some material in the movie was inappropriate regarding a minor in one of the lead roles. But I know the title clearly suggests it is only for adults. Understandable that the writer wanted to give something new, but he could not get it right. Maybe lacked to bring some interesting and inspiring elements. What surprised me was, it was not either for commercial benefit nor a fine art piece.All the way I knew something was not clinching and finally found out the approach to portray the main character in the negative mode had to do with something. They wanted the viewers to go against him and well, they got it in a way. Interestingly the screenplay was from the 'Black List' which was untouched for almost 10 years. Unfortunately Bateman decided to give it a try and the result is,... Here I'm with not satisfied fully, but okay-okay movie for being at least something different.6/10

Well, they've finally done it. They've taken Jason Bateman's Sarcastic Man persona to the limit of being likable and broke it completely. This is pure insult comedy. There is no justification given for why the character tries to shame and humiliate every individual he meets, or why we should give a toss about him and his ridiculous quest to win a Spelling Bee against a bunch of kids.The bad news is this: Yep, I'm that guy. I have a line, and that line involves saying horrible things about rape and racial slurs to a kid. Poor Rohan Chand was badly parented on screen and off. The kid's a good actor and I want him to get parts, but this is too much. He shouldn't have had to hear this stuff. And where were the kids' parents on screen? He basically could have been raped or murdered and they'd have no idea. Ridiculous. And there he was with Jason Bateman's character. This guy would absolutely be put on a list of people not allowed to spend time around children. Everything this guy says to these juveniles is a form of child abuse. You take this movie and love it. Having said all that, the only true value in this movie is the words. There are some wonderful, obscure and ridiculously long words in the spelling bee portions which are great fun as they crop up. Its just a shame that the character and movie surrounding these words is so barren of any comedy or drive to keep watching. The words were all that kept me watching, and I regret it.

Bad Words is an interesting film. With all the racist and misogynistic jokes in the movie, failure should have been its destiny. But the film, nowhere near perfection, does manage to be solidly funny and serves as a good directorial debut for star Jason Bateman. Granted, some jokes are uncomfortable, but others are hilarious. Some people may find this film mean-spirited, but it shows there are these kind of people out here in the world who would do something like Bateman's character would. Bateman's film is about a crude, bad-mouth man named Guy Trillby who enters the Golden Quill, a national spelling competition designed for children. But 40-year-old Guy finds a loophole and he decides to participate in the spelling bee despite all the backlash from the parents and officials.Granted, Jason Bateman's character was extremely unlikable. But it was rather funny to watch him mow down the competition. So I guess Bateman did a good job in his role. We also get some clever supporting turns from Kathryn Hahn and especially Allison Janney as the main official of the spelling bee. Overall, Bad Words is a crude movie but it's often pretty funny and some of the jokes hit home hard. I sort of like the rivalry he struck up with the nine-year-old Indian kid as they both become friends as well as enemies. There will obviously be some detractors from the film, but it seems like I am not one of them. It's not a great film, but merely a good, small comedy. My Grade: B-