'Bad Words' Offers 'Cinematic Catharsis,' Plus an Interview with Jason Bateman

By Leslie Combemale aka Cinema Siren

You love Jason Bateman. Of course you do. His talent, laid-back demeanor and nice guy image in Hollywood has meant a rare staying power for a man who has been in and around Hollywood since he was a 10-year-old kid on Little House on the Prairie.

From the film Dodgeball to Arrested Development to Horrible Bosses, he has become one of the crowned kings of cult TV and film culture. He has been putting his interest in directing to the test on the small screen since the late '80s, so it was only a matter of time before he moved on to the big screen.

Micro-budgeted Bad Words, which sports an inventively well targeted photographic poster and the spot-on tagline “The end justifies the mean,” was the perfect first feature-directing vehicle. Check out my interview with him for Bad Words and hear “5 Things You Didn’t Know About Jason Bateman”…

It is as if screenwriter Andrew Dodge and director Bateman are railing against the Hays code some 80-plus years after it was put in place, a code that required bad guys get their just desserts in the end.

The story, which focuses on an angry man-child who works a loophole to be a contestant in a national spelling bee meant for 6th graders, abounds with completely politically incorrect scenes, with the misanthrope bullying children and spewing vitriol.

There are both genuinely touching scenes between him and his new 12-year-old nerd friend and scenes displaying his resentment expressed in unapologetic cruelty that makes him only nearly entirely unlikeable.

Nearly entirely, and that’s what makes Jason Bateman’s first feature interesting; there are moments the audience almost wants to root for him, even just a little, and then he does something else that reminds one and all of what a complete jerk he remains to the end.

The feeling he elicits from those viewing the film is much like what the character Jenny Widgeon (played to pathetic perfection by consummate character actress Kathryn Hahn) feels, who continues going back for sexual interactions with him but hates herself a bit more with each experience.

Bad Words maintains its tone and trajectory in an admirably fearless fashion through its entirety. Does the audience like him or respect him by the end of the film? Probably not, but they might learn to hate him a little less.

Much as Cinema Siren dislikes movies with characters of that ilk, this consistently subversive movie mines the disastrous angry inner world of Guy Trilby in a way that is perfect for filmgoers who need cinematic catharsis to keep them from exploding one day at the office and rant-cursing themselves out of their job.

So those of you who put your staplers down and go see it, you might owe Jason Bateman a grumpy but heartfelt thank you.

For fans of Jason Bateman and/or dark cynical comedy: 3 out of 5 stars

About this column: Leslie Combemale, "Cinema Siren," is a movie lover and aficionado who aspires to get more people back into the beautiful alternate worlds offered in the dark at movie houses across the country, and is owner of ArtInsights Animation and Film Art Gallery.  She interviews actors, directors, and production artists from all over the world, and often is invited to present at conventions such as the San Diego Comic Con, where she has been a panelist and host for The Art of the Hollywood Movie Poster, Classic Film History, Disney & Harry Potter Fandom discussions. Visit her art gallery for great art from film at www.artinsights.com and see more of her reviews and interviews on www.artinsightsmagazine.com.