In the mood for a really raunchy comedy that will leave your jaw wide open and gut all but busted?
Bad Teacher tries, but it ain’t it.
Maybe you’re leaning towards a feel-good feature, in the spirit of School of Rock, with a wee bit of a naughty flavour, but much too tame and heartfelt to be considered a no-no for PG audiences?
Bad Teacher, uh…. nope.
Thus, begs the question: Just what is the target audience for Bad Teacher? Honestly, I sat through it a few hours ago, and I still don’t have a clue.
Personal opinion? Bad Teacher should’ve went all out and gone for shameless. Heck, it mocks the “inspiring educator” films repeatedly, as star Cameron Diaz (playing the titular poor instructor) rolls the television/DVD player into class to screen titles such as Stand and Deliver and Lean On Me for her students while she naps.
Why not go for broke and push the envelope? Bridesmaids is doing just that next door, and doing it well, I might add.
Instead, there’s a whimper of an effort to make this a happy-happy flick, complete with cute kids, some of them even learning a good lesson in the process. Awful idea.
Diaz is itching to completely let loose as the bad girl, that much is obvious –– the fact that there’s even a hint of restraint doesn’t do any favours for her or us.
The plot has Diaz teaching middle school to raise enough money to purchase a new set of breasts and land a sugar daddy so she won’t have to work anymore.
There are some very funny supporting players involved, including Justin Timberlake who has fun as the dorky substitute, and the always-great Jason Segel, tremendously under-used as the school’s gym teacher.
Bad Teacher screams potential, and there are some legit funny moments, just not enough of them to make this thing memorable.
So does Bad Teacher get a passing grade? Barely. It skims by with a C average. That’s pretty bad. The problem? It’s not bad enough.
–– Jason Armstrong is the movie reviewer for The Morning Star. His column, Aisle Seat, appears every Friday and Sunday.
