Bad Teacher Movie Review

BAD TEACHER: UNFULFILLING

Jake Kasdan's Bad Teacher falls flat due to an uneven storyline and poor casting. It is two parts bawdy comedy and one part sweet comedy. Justin Timberlake proves he can be annoying in the right role and Cameron Diaz plays her character just right, making the audience love her even when she is being so evil. It has potential but the rest of the film doesn't measure up to Diaz.

Elizabeth Halsey (Cameron Diaz) is a gold digger who has just been dumped by her fiancée. She returns to teaching to pay for bills but starts to plan her next scheme when she meets new sub Scott Delacorte (Justin Timberlake). His family is extremely wealthy and Halsey plans to sink her claws into him. But then fellow teacher and enemy Amy Squirrel (Lucy Punch) hooks up with him and flaunts it in Elizabeth's face. So she turns her focus to getting her students to achieving the highest scores so she can score a $5700 bonus and pay for the boob job she covets so much.

Bad Teacher takes the raunchy comedy premise and tries to add soft touches. The result: it doesn't work. The deviant female teacher is funny but her change over the course of the movie doesn't ring true. Cameron Diaz does a fantastic job as the ruthless Elizabeth. She gives great attitude, knows how to shake her assets, and can make you love and hate her. Jason Segel is sadly underused as his screen time provides some of the funnier moments. Justin Timberlake lays it on thick and manages to make Delacorte irritating instead of charming. Eric Stonestreet has a small part as Elizabeth's roommate. The hilarity in his part lies in how different he is from his popular Modern Family character. The camera is all about Cameron Diaz and the tight fitting outfits she wears. Most notable is the car washing scene. Everything else pales in comparison.

The film would greatly improve if Justin Timberlake's character was replaced with some other actor.

Bad Teacher has some funny parts thanks to Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel, while everything else tries to bring it down.

Report Card:

Story-D

Acting-C

Visuals-C

Originality/Innovation-D

Enjoyability Grade–C

Overall Grade-C-