Blu-ray Review: BAD TEACHER - Flithy Cameron Diaz's Schoolery Bad Santa
Whilst Bad Teacher may not be top of the class narratively, Sony’s release is a solid one, with stellar visual and audio quality and a interesting – if not extensive – range of supplementary features.
rating: 4
She claims she doesnt need a blackboard, or a classroom to set an examplebut you do need this Blu-ray to check out the crude, rude and outrageous comedy that is Bad Teacher! Available on both Blu-ray and DVD from today, read on for our review Elizabeth Halsey (Cameron Diaz) is a foul-mouthed, ruthless, and inappropriate teacher who couldnt give a flying you-know-what about her students. She drinks, gets high, and cant wait to marry a meal ticket to get out of her bogus day job. When shes unceremoniously dumped by her mega-rich fiancé (after his mother calls her out for being the gold-digger she is), she sets her sights on an equally rich, handsome substitute (Justin Timberlake) while shrugging off the advances of the school gym teacher (Jason Segel). When it becomes clear that Miss Squirrel (Lucy Punch), the overly eager teacher from the class opposite, has her eye on the substitute too, Elizabeth decides the only way to bag her man is to get a boob job! Realising she is without the funds, Elizabeth takes drastic action in order to earn what she needs and prevent Miss Squirrel getting the guy The consequences of her wild and outrageous schemes may just give her student, co-workers, and even herself an education like no other
Bad Teacher is just the right kind of lowbrow comedy that viewers can happily disengage their brain for and sit back and really enjoy for an hour and a half. The film is obviously not going to win any awards, or even push forward its stars careers, but theres a great sense of fun within it and viewers will undoubtedly come away wishing that theyd had a high school teacher just like Miss Halsey! The comedy is unsophisticated its compiled from more f-ing and blinding than youd hear at a swearing convention, as well as highlighting conduct thats absolutely inappropriate for a teacher at every point but theres enough slapstick and dead pan dialogue to keep audiences chuckling. There are certainly some instances that will have viewers laughing out loud, with the scenes where Miss Halsey makes it absolutely clear to her students that she doesnt give a hoot about them and the instances that pit her against rival teacher, Miss Squirrel, being sheer comedy gold. Director Jake Kasdan brings a good sense of comic direction to the film and he paces the narrative well to centre on Halseys quest for new breasts and her eventual emergence of some feeling toward her students and co-workers. Sprouting out of these overarching narrative strands are a series of humorous vignettes that will keep viewers entertained and the laughter flowing. For example, the sequences between Halsey and her roommate (a rather overweight and grotesque slob, who ironically works at a gym), her seduction of the exam board executive and her Christmas celebrations at a students house provide some of the biggest laughs. As the story progresses and Halsey begins to take her work more seriously the film begins to lose its way slightly, verging too close to a sense of realism and resolution. Bad Teacher manages to avoid the stigmas of most romantic comedies for the majority of its narrative, but the closing sequences feel remarkably like they are stepping into that territory. As the characters and situations become less absurd and outrageous, the comedy becomes more subdued and the film begins to lose the sense of silliness that has held it together thus far. Therefore, Bad Teacher may not be A* grade all the way, but it happily shifts between the A to B marks, giving viewers a solid enough if not remarkable comedy that certainly induces enough laughs to pass the test! 
The brilliant performances are predominantly what keep Bad Teacher from freefalling into the realms of bad comedy, with the majority of the main cast hitting exactly the right grades. The chief characters all have an element of absurdity within them and this puts the actors through their comedy paces. Diaz brings the right blend of outrageousness, bitchiness and sexiness to her character, making her a bad teacher that many of us wish we could have had. The character gives her a range of emotions to play and some of her best scenes are the more dramatic and over the top ones. Diaz also reminds audiences of her impeccable comic timing, providing laughs through action or dialogue at exactly the right places. One of her best sequences sees her in disguise as a newspaper reporter and has her seducing the man who has a copy of the exam are students are set to take. The scene is ridiculously funny and the immense physical aspects of the comedy are handled well by both Diaz and co-star Thomas Lennon (as the unsuspecting victim). Romantic support comes from both Justin Timberlake and Jason Segel. Segel gives a convincing performance as the gym teacher who shares some of the same feelings as Elizabeth, only is less extreme about them. The actor makes his character, Russell Gettis, very likeable and provides some solid moments of humour. Segel makes Gettis the only character who has the ability to see through Halseys façade and the actor probably gives the sanest performance of the lot! Timberlake is pretty poor here, giving a rather stilted and wooden performance as the rather nerdy (but rich) substitute teacher that Elizabeth sets her sights on. Hes neither charming nor funny for the most part and his performance is certainly not one of the best here. British actress Lucy Punch, on the other hand, is. Almost stealing the show from co-star Diaz, Punch gives a sparkling performance that will have viewers in absolute stitches! She imbues character Amy Squirrel with a ridiculous, annoying sense of duty towards her position, as well as an absurd sense of deep-rooted craziness too. One of Punchs most memorable sequences sees her follow principal Wally Snur into the mens bathroom to rat out Elizabeths conduct at the student car wash. Casually taking a seat in a urinal, Punch plays the sequence completely straight and viewers will find themselves hard pressed not to laugh so much that they vomit! In fact, Punch plays all of her scenes completely straight, making her slow descent into infuriated lunacy even more funny. Similarly strong comical support comes from Phyllis Smith (as a rather pathetically shy teacher who befriends Elizabeth and comically tries to copy her bad attitude!), John Michael Higgins (as the school principal who has an obsession with dolphins and absolutely no clue whatsoever) and a host of other A* talent. QUALITY
Sonys release has both excellent visual and competent audio quality, making it a solid release on a technical level. The images are distinctly free from any form of noticeable or irritating grain, distortion or other forms of blemishing and the print looks exceptionally clean. The colour palette is a varied blend of strong primaries (Elizabeth is often seen in red or yellow and all shades of blue are in abundance elsewhere) and other vibrant hues. Colour looks exceptional from the costumes worn right to the smallest details in the settings, with an effectively large variety of tones. The clarity of the transfer is vivid and definition is stellar, so even the finest of details are noticeable. The images have a rich sense of texture, from the luscious look of fabrics (primarily Diazs expensive looking wardrobe) to the cold sheen of porcelain urinals (that Miss Squirrel enjoys relaxing in)! Audio is similarly strong and dialogue is clean, clear and intelligible throughout. The popular music soundtrack adds oomph to the audio, with cavernous depth from the tracks resounding through the variety of speakers that accompany an HD television. Generally, the audio is not that adventurous, with little experimentation into multi-layer sound fields: something that could potentially have been very impressive here, particularly in the school settings. However, although it doesnt push many boundaries, the audio is solid and viewers are unlikely to have any problems with it. EXTRAS
A small collection of extra material is housed on the disc, but most viewers will be left wanting more. The following collection of bonus material is housed on the release: Deleted Scenes A mixed bunch of footage here: some scenes were definitely left on the cutting room floor, but a couple are laugh out loud funny and would have been welcome left in the final cut. Outtakes Some genuinely amusing moments, but generally typical fare. Way Behind the Scenes with Jason and Justin Really not that funny Raising More than Funds A look at the car wash scene with cast and crew. Film: 3.5 out of 5 As School based comedies go, Bad Teacher is one of the best. As comedies go, Bad Teacher is decidedly more average. The crude and ridiculous nature of the comedy will certainly have viewers in stitches at times, but the film loses its way slightly towards the end of the narrative and the remarkably kinder and more thoughtful Miss Halsey isnt half as fun as the bad teacher she originally was Visuals: 5 out of 5 Sonys print on this release is practically flawless! Free from grain, blemishing or other irritating distortion, Bad Teacher is a prime example for the power of Blu-rays images. Colours are vivid and rich and definition is stellar and picks up all of the finer details in a scene. Bad Teacher really is deserving of an A* here! Audio: 4.5 out of 5 Audio is very competent, with clean and intelligible dialogue throughout and a deep, rich blend of ambient noise and musical soundtrack as well. Whilst Bad Teacher does not push the boundaries on film audio tracks, it is solid throughout and will leave viewers with virtually no complaints. Extras: 3 out of 5 The brief collection of bonus material is a little disappointing, as a strong, humorous audio commentary or behind the scenes documentary would have been very welcome here. However, what is housed on the disc will make you chuckle, even if you do wish there was more. Presentation: 3 out of 5 The front cover image reflects the poster artwork from the original ad campaign, and whilst its not exactly amazing, it is effective and eye-catching enough. The picture menus are relatively simple, but viewers will have no problem navigating to what they want. Overall: 4 out of 5 Whilst Bad Teacher may not be top of the class narratively, Sonys release is a solid one, with stellar visual and audio quality and a interesting if not extensive range of supplementary features. But if that doesnt convince you to check out the film, go get it to watch Cameron Diazs sexy car wash scene alone! 
Bad Teacher is available from today on Blu-ray.