Culture Blues

Let’s Review Bad Teacher!

As the Culture Blues Intern, it is my duty to record the post-screening discussions of my editors, so that they're not required to "sell out" and write actual cogent criticism.

Jeff and Jeremiah had originally decided to take a “summer vacation” from reviewing movies, largely because word circulated amongst the public relations community about Jeff’s “spitting” incident at the Super 8 screening and, thus, they’ve been black-listed from free movies. Anyway, school is apparently back in session, or maybe this is summer school, because the guys have decided to make me transcribe their review of Bad Teacher. Hope I didn’t use too many “teacher” jokes in this introduction. Wouldn’t want to bring the level of dis”course” down. I might get detention. I hate being an intern. Anyway, here it is.

Jeremiah White:  I believe you wanted to begin this Bad Teacher review with a recounting of our experience, many years ago, of seeing Bad Santa in theaters.

Jeff Hart:  Yes! Short story. It was a weekday matinee. There were two other people in the theater, an older couple. They walked out in disgust before the end of the second act. Bad Teacher is definitely not going to elicit that kind of visceral reaction.

Jeremiah: Definitely not. I expected Bad Teacher to be a cheap knockoff of Bad Santa, an uninspired regurgitation of its central gag, foul-mouthed adult around kids, with a more palatable treatment of the lead character’s nastiness. I am totally confident that Bad Teacher isn’t nearly that bad.

Jeff:  Which is to say that Bad Teacher isn’t that good. Part of the reason Bad Santa is so great is because there’s a genuine sense of dread and despair in Billy Bob Thornton’s performance. Cameron Diaz, while her character is undoubtedly a shitty person, didn’t make me cringe – in a good way, at least – every time she appeared on screen. Warping the fragile minds of our nation’s youth aside, there’s no real stakes to any of Diaz’s horrible antics.

Jeremiah:  Teacher certainly does not have the black heart of Bad Santa, but that’s because it doesn’t seem nearly as concerned with morality. We don’t see the fallout of Diaz’s callous behavior. We don’t see the hurt feelings or the damaged lives. In fact, the kids are primarily used to mark slight improvements in her capacity for good deeds.

Jeff:  The redemption arc here didn’t work for me, mostly because it’s hard to give a shit about Diaz. I mean, she’s funny – the movie has some laughs – but her character is just a device to trot out some nasty gags.

Jeremiah:  While Bad Santa focused on Bill Bob Thornton’s relationship with one boy, Bad Teacher instead piles plot on top of plot. They don’t invest too much in any of these threads, and none of them are particularly engaging, but the sheer number of them keeps things moving. There’s Diaz’s drive to get enough money to afford breast implants, there’s her attempts to seduce Just Timberlake’s absurdly conceived trust fund substitute teacher, there’s her somewhat reluctant teaching moments with her students, and perhaps most importantly, there’s her gradually increasing hostilities with the resident goody two-shoes teacher Lucy Punch.

Jeff:  I’m glad you brought up Timberlake. Personally, I think JT is a funny dude and a passable actor, but Bad Teacher definitely argues the opposite. He looks lost out there, never really figuring out how to wring laughs out of what is a pretty atrocious character. Punch, on the other hand, steals the movie. Although she’s just a generic comedy villain, Punch plays her prim control freak to great effect. She got the biggest laughs from me, especially when she does all that weird stuff with her lips.

Jeremiah:  I think a lot of the problems in Bad Teacher stem from the script.

Jeff:  Yeah, it’s a movie that wants badly to push the envelope, to show off its bad taste, but the jokes are largely reheated and lazy. Lesbian gym teacher? Come on. Isn’t that a little easy? I’d put some of the blame on director Jake Kasdan as well. I’d expect him to sharpen this material, not just roll it out there.

Jeremiah: Eh, I’d say that Bad Teacher is a bit of a comeback for Kasdan. After the excellent Zero Effect, the passable Orange County, and the excellent The TV Set, Kasdan hit rock bottom in 2007 with Walk Hard, a miserable Will Ferrell movie with John C. Reilly in the Ferrell role.

Jeff:  First of all, Orange County isn’t passable. It stinks. And if you’re going to compare Bad Teacher favorably to Walk Hard, I’d say that’s damning Kasdan’s latest with very faint praise.

Jeremiah:  It’s not just that Bad Teacher is better than Walk Hard, it’s that Walk Hard was so clearly a few funny ideas stretched way beyond their breaking point. Tim Meadows’ character literally existed solely to deliver the same joke over and over again. Only the most minor characters in Bad Teacher are anywhere near that frivolous, and none of them grow as irritating.

Jeff:  No, you’re right, Bad Teacher never reaches the point of irritation. It’s enjoyable, it has its moments, but I wouldn’t rush out to see it, especially with Bridesmaids still in theaters and the rest of the summer shaping up strong for comedy.

Jeremiah:  Bad Teacher doesn’t really have anything new to offer, but it’s a pretty decent reason to laugh amidst the summer’s blockbusters (or the winter’s Oscar contenders if you wait to Netflix it).

Tagged as: bad teacher, cameron diaz, is justin timberlake funny?, jake kasdan