Bad Teacher

My Grade:  B

Here is another instance where a film dares to have a negative term in the title and manages to eke out of having critics play on that negative term for an entire review (see my Horrible Bosses review).  The problem, however, is that the term “bad” is too perfect for this teacher (see, I am still able to play with the word).  What I mean is that Diaz’s character is just bad.  Not awful, horrendous, offensive, sadistic... well sadistic may be a bit much; but bad is bland.  They could have gone miles further with her, thus making a much funnier, more offensively fresh film.  The film does have it’s moments of raunchy pleasure, though (such as a very suggestive line Diaz shouts to her fiance not knowing his mom is in the room... oops).

The reason I was originally interested in this film is because of Diaz playing a bad girl when she is normally a sweet, innocent woman; and Timberlake playing a naive, good boy despite usually playing a bad boy.  I thought this switch would be refreshing (like Aniston in Horrible Bosses) but it is kind of a let down.  There is a reason why we like to see the sweet Diaz and the arrogant Timberlake.  Despite these two being the faces on the posters, they aren’t the shining gems here.  Phyllis Smith (“The Office”) steals some scenes as the nerdy, overweight do-gooder that flirts with being her own version of a “bad teacher.”  Also, her comedic delivery is great and she plays off the brash Diaz perfectly.

    

The star of the show, however, is Jason Segal.  Apart from being the funniest character in the entire film, he is also the most likable.  While everyone else is busy not being themselves, Segal’s gym teacher shoots straight and shows his true colors which allows us to really connect with him.  Segal never disappoints, but I like him in Bad Teacher more than I have liked him in any other film (it’s a bold statement, I know).  I almost forgot to mention Lucy Punch whom I haven’t really seen much of until Bad Teacher.  Her Ms. Squirrel is very uneven to me.  She is supposed to be sweet on the outside but a very fake person all together which she is, but it is just an uneven performance.  Her character’s name, however, is great.

    

If you can’t tell, the cast is good enough to sustain the film.  The story is good enough as well... not spectacular.  I could see most of the plot points coming, there weren’t a lot of inventive twists and turns, and it’s a bit exploitive in that the only real joke is that a teacher (who is supposed to be a role model) isn’t a role model at all.  She does have a little bit of redemption at the end (and don’t you dare complain that I didn’t say “spoiler alert” because you HAVE TO know that there would be redemption at the end... it’s Hollywood), but the redemption seems to come out of nowhere.  It’s still kind of sweet though.

    

Overall, Bad Teacher plays out like a rated R version of Billy Madison.  I know Sandler didn’t play a teacher in it, but he became a role model for the class despite not really being a viable role model at all.  There are some other similarities, plot-wise, but I will save you from having to read any spoilers.  And, if you see the film, you will notice them.