Bad Teacher: MSN Review

By: Ed Holden

Cameron Diaz swinging through a school and causing some havoc as a badass teacher doesn’t sound like such a bad idea, does it? We’ve pulled out the red biro to examine Bad Teacher.

Diaz plays Elizabeth Halsey: a shallow boozer on the lookout for a man who will help pay off her debts. When her previous beau exposes her for the gold digger she is, she's forced to return to her fill-in teacher job where she sets her sights on Justin Timberlake's impressionable and loaded young dweeb.

It makes camp in the shallow, vulgar comedy field from the outset. We're prepared not to expect any real depth of character, nor to really like anyone for large stretches. Yes, Diaz is good at being mean. Her 'Hollywood' look works for her as she manipulates, lies and cheats her way through. She taps into the same vein as Billy Bob Thornton in Bad Santa, which is very much the parent-movie to this.

Playing Diaz' rival for the nerdy affections of JT is Lucy Punch, who really should be the funniest thing in the film. She's the preppy irritant who teaches the class across the hall and gives the kids apples because, "I learn as much from them as they do from me." Credit to her. She demonstrates serious comic ability as she wages war on evil Cameron, who has decided to rob whoever she can (whoever) to buy some new boobs.

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Perhaps the reason that Punch's war doesn't get that many laughs is that she's really a caricature rather than a character. They're found throughout, needlessly distancing Bad Teacher from any kind of grounding in reality. Timberlake's geek is a cartoon-like impression rather than a human, through no fault of JT's, who we know can act.

In fact, they needn't have elevated Diaz to such pantomime levels of villainy, though she does hold down the evil well as she gets stoned in her car and robs the school car wash. The most relatable people in the film are probably the kids.

Two rather obvious love triangles are formed as JT is assailed by Punch and Diaz and Cameron, in turn, is pursued by Jason Segal's gym teacher. The plot machinations are all pretty thin and predictable. Although we're spared a hideous U-turn from Cam, in which she might 'turn good', the rom-com plot devices rob Bad Teacher of the chance to be a genuinely dark comedy. Things do turn somewhat achingly for the good. And when the morals are wedged into the back end of the story they're all out of whack.

With the creaky plot, we needed some big-time funnies to see us through. A lot will be made of Cameron dry humping her real-life ex JT in a played-for-laughs bedroom encounter. But it's not scoring any serious tremors on the laugh-o-meter. Perhaps it falls short there because it's wedged awkwardly between a romantic comedy and the all-out celebration of darkness and evil it could have been.

Bad Teacher: MSN Review

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