Review of Bad Words (2013) by Carlos Z — 21 Jul 2014

Floccinaucinihilipilification. Due to a loophole, a grown man (Jason Bateman) sets out to win the National Spelling Bee, pissing every parent and administrator off in the process. I love Jason Bateman's work in Arrested Development, but he does not have the best track record with big screen movies; there are a few exceptions, but for the most part, his movies range from the mediocre (The Change-Up, The Switch) to the offensively bad (Identity Thief).

Maybe it is because there is something that is inherently funny about Spelling Bees (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is one of my very favorite stage plays), but I thought this worked on a number of different levels.

This works as an inappropriate comedy, but it also surprisingly works as a mystery as well; you genuinely want to know why this man is the way that he is, and what would bring a man to lash out against such an innocent system.

He does a lot of bad karma things in this movie which should make him unlikable, but he redeems himself with genuine chemistry with another contestant, played by Rohan Chand. The why behind it all keeps you hanging, and while I wouldn't say that this is as funny as Horrible Bosses, it is better than most because it gives you more depth than you typically get with comedies, which elevates it.