Review of Bad Words (2013) by Rhynal R — 06 Sep 2014

Not many actors can carry a ridiculous plot that goes nowhere yet manage to keep the genre of movie they're in entertaining, or in this case, funny. Luckily, Jason Bateman is one of those actors that can. Bad words is a story about a 40 year old man who enters spelling bees to win the prize money. Yes. It's as ridiculous as it sounds. But somehow, Bateman manages to find his niche in comedy with the style being dry and incredibly sarcastic with profanities everywhere.

He manages to befriend a little indian kid and makes so many racist comments that it'll sure to offend most people; but here's the thing, he's actually funny. Bateman's delivery is top notch and his facial expressions as he denotes his 'not caring' sentiment is always sure to make you laugh. His lifelessness as he curses profanities is just well done and it just goes to show how funny he really is as an actor. There are no memorable secondary characters but you won't really care as Bateman is the real reason you watch this movie.

There isn't much to say about the movie other than that because there's not much else to the movie. Bateman and the kid have a surprisingly great chemistry and they play off each other very well. The problem is that the plot is ridiculous until near the end when they reveal to you the true intentions, but by the time this happens, the viewer has already, if not consciously, subconsciously, decided what type of movie this is; a funny movie with no plot so just enjoy the ride. They try to put in a little bit of heart, which is sweet, when using their relationship, but with everything else, it falls flat as so much work is put into making Bateman's character such a douche.

The movie's not for everyone as there are so much profanities I know it's bound to turn off a large audience. However, fans of Bateman and this type of comedy will enjoy. 6.5/10.