Jason Bateman's debut movie as a director is almost there; shot with a clear, vivid style, Bad Words also features one of the gifted actor's best performances as a downright bitter son of a bitch who will stop at nothing to win a children's spelling bee. For the first half of Bad Words, then, Bateman seems connected to the script perfectly... as the movie goes on, though, it begins to lag, and what at first seemed intriguing and highly unique begins to feel like something we've witnessed before. It's hard not to feel like the opportunity ended up a little wasted. Still, this is undoubtably a solid movie worth 90 minutes of your life (though it does begin to strain under the weight of even that relatively short running time). All of the joy here stems from Bateman's Guy Trilby, who - having found a loophole in the spelling bee competition rulebook - embarks on a profanity-laden revenge quest against a person who shall remain nameless for spoiler purposes. The biggest error the director makes here? Sacrificing the mean-spirited tone for what feels like a cop out ending; Bateman seems afraid to go all the way.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
