Bad Teacher
Starring: Cameron Diaz, Jason Segel, Justin Timberlake, Phyllis Smith
Directed by: Jake Kasdan
14A: Sexual content, coarse language
Running time: 92 minutes
Rating: 3 (out of five)
In keeping with the seasonal change, as well as a nascent trend in Hollywood formula, a tip of the hat to Donna Summer and her timeless tune Bad Girls, because the "sad, dirty bad girl" is fast becoming Hollywood's golden goose.
We already watched Kristen Wiig and Bridesmaids beat the Hangover boys to the season's brass ring, and now we're treated to Cameron Diaz as a boozing, gold-digging sleaze looking for a chauffeured cruise down Easy Street.
In the past, characters such as these were generally treated as villainous interlopers, not comic leads, which ensured they remained as mono-dimensional as possible.
It also gave the goody twoshoes characters enough space to show off their kindness and empathy, ensuring they, too, remained as mono-dimensional as possible.
So even if it seems counterintuitive to embrace a very poor female role model as a sign of positive change, by accepting the bad girls, we may finally be mature enough as a society to see women as complex, unpredictable, and roundly multidimensional human beings.
Diaz certainly seems to grasp this concept of inverse-emancipation as she sinks her bicuspids into the role of Elizabeth Halsey, an aging hottie desperate to cash in on her physical assets before she's confused for a sagging sofa.
Elizabeth has always been able to exploit her good looks to get what she wants, and she's found a string of men stupid enough and insecure enough to be her slave.
At the top of the film, she has attained exactly what she was looking for: a rich loser desperate for all the ego-affirmation a trophy bride can provide. Yet, when his mother interferes and correctly unveils Elizabeth's true gold-digging colours, she's booted from the high-end nest and forced to share a seedy apartment with someone she met on Craigslist.
She's also forced to return to work at John Adams middle school (JAMS), where the staff feel like characters cut from a Christopher Guest movie. John Michael Higgins is a Guest regular, and he sets the background tone for the supporting players as Principal Snur, a dolphin-loving teacher who takes his job seriously, and tries to be as fair to everyone as possible.
Joining Higgins on the periphery are Lucy Punch as Ms. Squirrel, a very keen teacher who wears a lot of floral patterns and beige, Jason Segel as gym teacher Mr. Gettis, and Justin Timberlake as Scott Delacorte, the new substitute who comes from old money.
You can probably do your own script assembly, given the central parts, because screenwriters Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg have no ambitions of recreating the comic wheel.
Elizabeth refuses to take any responsibility for her own actions, and, because her actions are so reprehensible, her explanations come off as comic glitter. In fact, she justifies everything as a means of achieving her central goal: a boob job in the hopes of attracting a rich, doting, boob-loving husband.
The motivation is pathetic, of course, but Diaz wears it with pride, as well as edge. Fully immersing herself in the role of the debauched siren with a few drug issues and a potty mouth, Diaz finds the antidote to the "dedicated teacher" stereotype and plays it for maximum comic effect.
She's got the chops, and so does the rest of the cast. The only irritating flaw is the direction.
WHAT OTHER CRITICS ARE SAYING ...
A refreshingly raucous comedy that comes surprisingly close to completely living up to its lack of conviction.
-Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies
For the first time since her unforgettable appearance in the Farrelly Brothers' 1998 gross-out comedy There's Something About Mary, Cameron Diaz fulfils her comedic promise.
-Cole Smithey, colesmithey.com
The movie's nods to the barebones economics of educators' lives are subversive and admirable.
-Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out New York
Surprisingly likable for a movie populated exclusively by idiots and jerks.
-Matt Pais, RedEye
Bad Teacher is a pulled punch, a pot-smoking/ kid cussing/ teacher copulating farce that is less than the sum of its parts.
-Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel
Are actresses like Diaz and (Lucy) Punch really cool with punishing material based on the worst male-invented stereotypes of the way women deceptively control men and compete with one another?
-Karina Longworth, Village Voice
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