CHICAGO– In his directorial debut “Bad Words”, Jason Bateman plays Guy Trilby, a foulmouthed 40 year old man who aggressively competes in local youth spelling bees. The children are confused, and their parents are furious. However, the isolated Guy has no fear, with all of the rule loopholes in his back pocket.
..specifically that he never graduated eighth grade. And in a non-conspiracy, he’s simply a great speller. But why is he doing this? Going hand-in-hand with the movie itself, the answer to that question will disappoint you.
 Rating: 2.0/5.0 |
Trilby’s controversial efforts land him in a nationwide spelling bee, where he is followed around by reporter Jenny Widgeon (Kathryn Hahn), who seeks to understand Trilby’s background, or true explanation. As the spelling bee continues to pit Trilby against the rest of the world, he does start an unusual friendship with a competitor named Chaitanya Chopra (Rohan Chand), a wide-eyed kid with a voice ready for “Charlie Brown” specials, and one whose innocence renders him naive to the racial remarks Guy throws in his face.
While participating in the competition, Guy’s trolling goes into full swing. With TV coverage and audiences hoping for his downfall, he plays traumatizing mind games on his fellow spellers, often before they even get a chance to participate.
Bateman uses a fairly fast mouth and an authoritarian command to have some fun with his character, one that does work as a play against his image, but still feels like a nice guy’s version of a jerk. The qualities that make Guy so unlikable are made to be so obvious, that even as a desperate character his creation seems desperate. This creates a bad domino effect with much of the film’s humor, as Bateman, Bateman’s character, and the story, are trying too hard with their stale sense of naughtiness.
Continue reading for Nick Allen’s full review of “Bad Words”
Jason Bateman in ‘Bad Words’
Photo credit: Focus Features
Continue reading for Nick Allen’s full review of “Bad Words”