Bad Words

In his film directorial debut, Jason Bateman stars in Bad Words. Guy Trilby (Bateman), a 40 year old degenerate, competes in spelling bees (as he never passed the 8th grade) for reasons undisclosed to anyone but himself. He and online reporter Jenny Widgeon (Kathryn Hahn) continue through all levels of spelling bees exploiting the loophole until they arrive at the national spelling bee.

Guy meets a young Indian boy named Chaitanya (Rohan Chand) on the way to the bee. While this is one of the most unlikely friendships you can have, it seriously worked. Andrew Dodge has written fantastic dialogue for someone of Bateman's timing and style, and kept the audience filled with shock laughter. Anyone can write offensive jokes, but it's rare you see a comedy as well timed as this.

Bateman is lovably, hilariously despicable in this film. We understand from the start that he's a complete asshole, but at least he's a funny asshole. It should also be understood that this man is a genius, whether it's a raunchy quip or a malicious prank. He and Chand have a rare chemistry for a pair of such different ages. Hahn, however, I felt never got closer to Bateman over time as we're supposed to see.

The two contestants bond so naturally through the loss of Chai's innocence, and the entire process is so hysterical that the audience is immediately settled in for the ride. Bateman's first lines set the tone for the film, which is emphasized extra by Guy's behavior towards Chai. The film feels so well paced for something under 90 minutes, I can't say it should have been longer or shorter.

The film's moral, if it has one, is left kind of blurry and weak in the eyes of the audience. The ending scenario may be a tad predictable, but it's played out like a spelling bee episode of Arrested Development or Community. While cleverly written, it didn't feel like the proper climax to a black comedy such as this. Also the arc focusing on Guy's motive felt underwhelming in the end, though that was one of the more drawing aspects to me. 

The montages in this film are wonderfully shot with Ken Seng at the head of cinematography. Seng does an excellent job of shooting scenes involving inebriation, and the use of a live broadcast format was played off well in terms of comedy. All of this combined with one of Bateman's best performances makes for a very enjoyable movie.

The problem with black comedies, is that sometimes it forces a conflict within the audience between their empathy for the characters and their nature to laugh. Some scenes were absurdly funny, but were a missed opportunity in terms of increasing the tension between two competitors. Sometimes, it just comes down to the shot they use, and Bateman went for the throat of the comedy gazelle.

Spoilers:

The fact that Chaitanya's father organized the entire friendship in order to force Guy to let Chai win forces a split between the audience. Those who still sympathize with the innocent child and those who want to see Guy exact revenge on his father will butt heads, but that conflict plays well into the climax. But this plot twist made it really hard for me to empathize with the child, as the film's primary focus is Guy. The whole "daddy issues" message feels completely half baked.

Bateman has a strong directorial debut, as he once said he's been acting for the last 20 years in order to start directing. I definitely look forward to his future projects, as he reverse typecasts himself. Bad Words is fairly original as far as spelling bee stories go. It's a whimsical indie film that may be remembered as a classic if Bateman sees more success. I'd recommend it to you as long as you know what you're getting into.

Rating: B+