Bad Words

[3.5 stars] [IMDb Link]

[Amazon Link]
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Very funny. But in a profane way, so stay away if you're averse to such things. Or under 40. Nobody under 40 should see this movie.

Jason Bateman plays Guy Trilby, an unpleasant middle-aged loser who decides to exploit a technical loophole in the qualifications for a major national spelling bee (not called "Scripps" for obvious legal reasons). The rules merely state that contestants can't have graduated from the eighth grade; and, being a dropout, Trilby hasn't. He also needs a sponsor from an actual journalistic organization, and he's found that with Jenny Widgeon (Kathryn Hahn), a reporter for the "Click and Scroll" website. Jenny is hoping to get a story out of Guy's efforts, but (sad for her) she lacks even the small amount of self-esteem necessary to keep from jumping in the sack with him.

So Guy's in, in more ways than one. By which I mean "two ways."

And, not satisfied with just knowing how to spell well, he's also not averse to playing nasty mind games to sabotage his stronger opponents. Things go off course when he meets Chaitanya, a cute-as-a-button Indian-American competitor. Due to Chaitanya's persistence, they develop a truly dysfunctional relationship. But are there ulterior motives at work? Yes. Maybe.

A gutsier movie would have stuck with making Guy a total rat bastard to the very end. But (small spoiler) this does not happen. Still very funny though.


Last Modified 2024-01-27 5:34 AM EDT