Movie Review: BAD TEACHER

BAD TEACHER

2011
R

Bad Teacher is a 2011 comedy directed by Jake Kasdan that centers around the livelihood of one, well, bad teacher. When Elizabeth Halsey (Cameron Diaz) gets dumped by her ultra-rich fiance, she has to revert back to her days spent as a junior high teacher. Rather than using her job as an opportunity to enrich the lives of children, however, she takes the chance to attempt to woo a new colleague named Scott Delacorte (Justin Timberlake). When she learns that Scott has a bit of an affinity for large breasts, Elizabeth dedicates herself to raising enough money to fit into Scott's type, so to speak. At the same time, she starts to engage in a bit of a rivalry with another teacher named Amy Squirrel (Lucy Punch), who is both vying to be the best teacher in the school as well as for Scott's affection. When Elizabeth learns that the teacher whose class scores the highest on the state-wide standardized test will earn a respectable bonus, her battle against Amy shifts into high gear.

As my readers will know, Bad Teacher landed a spot on my list of this summer's most anticipated movies, falling in at number ten. I think it's safe to say that I had relatively high hopes for this one going into its theatrical run, and even after it started to garner negative reviews, I kept my hopes up that we'd be in for quite a laugh-fest. After finally seeing the film, I can honestly say that my first emotional reaction was disappointment.

Now, I don't want to go as far as saying that the movie is horrendous. There's definitely bits and pieces that will get you laughing - or at least chuckling - from time to time. However, the screenplay on the whole really isn't all that impressive. The basic storyline is rote and predictable, so there's nothing there that grabs the audience's attention. Because of this, the film's potential for success was forced to rely on the jokes and gags more than anything else. For any movie, that poses quite a problem, especially when you get a film like Bad Teacher. The jokes and gags we're given aren't nearly enough to drive along the film, and that's where this movie truly gets hurt. It tries to rely too heavily on raunchy and shock-value humor rather than finding a way to blend it with an equal amount of genuine humor. In a way, you can make the argument that Bad Teacher is really targeted at an audience of teenage boys rather than the mass public.

Some of the actors do their best to save the ship, but there's not a lot to be done when they're given a screenplay this awful. I was hoping that Bad Teacher could serve as a resurgence for Cameron Diaz who I thought desperately needed a winning role to re-start her career. While she has her moments during the film, I mostly found her to be a little whining and annoying. She does just enough to make her character appealing enough to be our lead, but that's as far as she takes it. I personally couldn't stand either Timberlake or Punch throughout the film, as their characters were much too over-the-top for my own liking. I understood the direction they were taking their characters, but it really seemed to be much too much. If anyone's worth seeing, it's Jason Segel, who plays the school's gym teacher who lusts after Diaz. His comic timing is, and has always been, simply brilliant, and he almost makes this movie watchable. We also get some okay performances from some smaller players like Phyllis Smith, John Michael Higgins and Thomas Lennon. Also be on the lookout for an appearance by Molly Shannon.

As much as I hate the fact that I'm throwing this film under the bus a little bit, I can't rightfully tell you to spend your money to see Bad Teacher. I had high hopes for the film, but as I stated earlier, I was utterly disappointed with the final product. Segel might be worth the price of admission, but it'd be a long-shot. I'd say wait for this one to hit NetFlix before you give it a view - otherwise, I think you'll simply be wasting your money.

Movie Review Summary:

Grade: D+
Thumbs Sideways

Movie Review: THE GREEN HORNET

THE GREEN HORNET

2011
PG-13

You can watch the trailer here

The Green Hornet is a 2011 action film directed by Michel Gondry that follows a young and wild man named Britt Reid (Seth Rogen) who has wasted his life partying and living his lavish lifestyle to its unfulfilling fullest. His father (Tom Wilkinson), the chief editor of a major newspaper called The Daily Sentinel, despises his son’s state of living. Upon his father’s untimely death, Britt is forced into his shoes and realizes that he has never done anything with his life. He meets Kato (Jay Chou) who was his father’s mechanic and coffee maker. Britt quickly learns that Kato is a martial arts expert and a genius with machinery, and the two decide to join forces in order to bring justice to the streets. Their guise, however, relies on the fact that they will pose as villains in order to get close to the real bad guys and bring them down from within. They soon butt heads with the local gangster Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz) who already runs all the crime in the city. With the unwitting help of secretary Lenore (Cameron Diaz), Britt and Kato delve into their plan at full-speed, never truly questioning the morality behind it all.

I’m going to start with acting this time around (you’ll see why in a moment). Now, there’s no one that terrible in The Green Hornet – no one except Seth Rogen, that is. He’s absolutely dreadful. I’m sure he went for outright comedy, which is his niche market, but he’s one of the last people that should’ve had a crack at this role. It just doesn’t fit the tone of the film at all. Considering he’s the lead character and the person we see for most of the flick, there’s a little bit of an issue.

To be fair, the actors didn’t have much of a script with which to work. There’s a little bit of intrigue to the story, but the dialogue is so horrendous that it’s hard to take any of it seriously. Case and point: Christoph Waltz’s character has lines that are so bad that it reduces the recent Academy Award-winner to a tiny slice of what he could have possibly been. His lines are so bad that I wanted to tell him that he didn’t need to jump at the first paycheck that came his way post-Oscar. A lot of the blame here also lies with Rogen, who co-wrote the script. I’m sure in his mind, it was hilarious and captivating, but it’s really just a bit of drivel.

If anybody stands out, it’s Jay Chou as Kato, stepping into a role made famous by Bruce Lee in the original T.V. series (if you see the movie, pay attention for a Lee homage; it’s pretty blatant, but if you’re not paying attention, you could easily miss it). He brings a bit of comedy as well as the fighting prowess needed for the role, and it’s nice to have him opposite the dreadful Rogen to bring something positive to the screen.

We do have a couple of interesting cameos in the film. One of them comes from Edward Furlong – the boy from Terminator 2: Judgment Day – and you may not even recognize him. I had to look closely because he doesn’t even look like he used to. But it’s him. However, the real cameo cake needs to go to none other than James Franco. My God, this man is everywhere right now! But it’s definitely a pleasant surprise to see him grace the screen in an extremely funny role.

Seriously though, I’d say this movie isn’t worth watching. I usually like to highlight a couple of positive attributes at the end of these posts, but I really don’t think you should waste your time with The Green Hornet. If it does poorly, it won’t get a sequel (yes, the ending leaves it open to such). Please don’t pad Seth Rogen’s ego any further.

Movie Review Summary:
Grade: D
1.5 Thumbs Down