Bad Words
Written by: Sam Henry Miller
Bad Words is all right, but for all the wrong reasons. It’s very good at being very bad where it shouldn’t and pretty good at being decent elsewhere—it’s kind of difficult to put into words. Don’t expect this comedy to land even a single hearty laugh. Expect rather a drama that will hit several emotional strings and grow on you at the speed and with the same thrill as barnacles.
Bad Words is the story of a cantankerous, sailor-mouthed man (played by Jason Bateman) and his quest to conquer The Golden Quill: the nation’s most prestigious spelling-bee. Due to a legal loophole—not having completed the 8th grade—he is enabled to compete beside elementary students, to their parents’ heavy chagrin; yet, his deeper motive remains a mystery for the greater half of the film.
Sounds like it should be at least as funny as Billy Madison, right? Unfortunately not—not even close. The jokes range from tasteless racism to half-giggle-worthy gags and not much in between. It’s almost physically painful watching Bateman, arguably a genius at deadpan-delivery, deliver such lazily-written dialogue. You’ll almost wish the film was a pure drama so that it wasn’t burdened by such anti-humor.
The film is also Bateman’s cinematic directorial debut, and it shows. His direction isn’t amateur by any means but, rather, inconsistent, indicative of experimentation. Some shots work, some are outright unintentionally reflexive and others are simply obtrusive. The continuity editing and montage sequences unfortunately follow this suit, leaving a poorly paced narrative that truly takes some time to become invested in. These weaknesses could be forgiven if not for such a weak script. One can’t help but wonder if Bateman’s cinematographic experiment would have turned out differently—favorably—elsewise.
Where the film does succeed is in telling the fairly formulaic tale of: father-figureless adult finds joy in plucky child, R-rated spelling-bee edition. It’s through this drama—which has to be constantly punctuated by goofy sound effects to remind us that it’s not one—that some poignant themes are exhumed. Guardianship, honor, revenge, trauma and friendship are a few of these and the only factors imbuing Bad Words with value.
Acting-wise, Kathryn Hahn, as Bateman’s journalist/lawyer sidekick deserves a special mention. As a character-actor and comedian, too often is she given peripheral roles that stifle her full potential (remember the sex-crazed, adulterous wife from Step Brothers?). Here, she’s given a little more room for range and proves that she can be just as competent dramatically as comedically. Hahn, Bateman and a tighter script would probably make better ingredients for any director to experiment with.
You don’t have to see Bad Words because you’ve seen it already. It’s not worth the laughs because there aren’t any. Instead, we can just chalk it up as precursory practice, on a widely-released scale, of what could eventuate as comedic or dramatic gold, with Hahn and Bateman at the helm, sometime in the hopeful near future.