Bad Teacher

So, it's been a busy week for me, as I checked out a couple of flicks, and will be catching an advanced screening of Horrible Bosses later today (someone start paying me for this!!!) Over the weekend I saw Bad Teacher, starring Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake, and Jason Segel. Despite the "Bad" prefix, it has nothing to do with 2003's Bad Santa - not the writers, director, or producers. Which is not particularly important, I just found it to be an interesting fact.

Bad Teacher is about Elisabeth Halsey (Cameron Diaz), an elementary school teacher who embodies the spirit of simply not giving a fuck. She's set to marry a wealthy dude, but the engagement is called off when he finds she's spent $170,000 in the last month alone (that number may not be accurate, but it's the principle of the thing). With her sugar daddy gone, Elisabeth has no choice but to return to the school that she had planned to retire from after only a year of teaching. Enter Scott Delacorte (Justin Timberlake) the new substitute teacher, and the heir of a very large designer watch empire. Elisabeth's new plan is to get breast implants in order to seduce Delacorte, who's got a thing for a nice rack. To earn the money, she'll have to do everything in her power...even if it means teaching her kids so they can get the highest grade in the state exam, and grant her a bonus.

Cameron Diaz has taken a step away from her previous roles like Natalie Cook in Charlie's Angels, or Princess Fiona in the Shrek movies, or that blonde girl in that movie that no one gives a damn about. She is pretty much a total bitch in this movie - and I loved every minute of it. In my opinion, it showcases her acting talent, and demonstrates that she's much more versatile than just playing the sweet blonde girl next door. She made me lol pretty frequently throughout the movie. JT plays what I suppose you could say is an interesting character but I find it just weird. He's a goody two-shoes-y, somewhat neurotic character that I don't really care for much at all, the character just seems too unrealistic. Jason Segel, on the other hand, is all kinds of comedy gold. Though he doesn't have a lot of on screen time, he makes every second count. Rounding out the main cast is Lucy Punch, whom you may recognize if you've seen Hot Fuzz (she's the girl who plays Juliet in their rendition of Romeo and Juliet.) Punch plays Amy Squirrel, the opposite of Diaz' Halsey and while she does a good job of portraying the character, I again feel like the character is just a shade too unrealistic for me to accept fully. Nonetheless, the entire ensemble works quite well together.

Now you won't be seeing Bad Teacher win any awards for cinematography because let's face it, it's just not that kind of a movie. The shots are serviceable, every active shot is smooth, and really there's not much more you can ask for then that. I also felt that the pacing for a movie that elapsed a year flowed very nicely, and it didn't overstay it's welcome.

Not a whole lot more to say about this flick, it's a lighthearted entertaining little comedy that does its job. If you find yourself at the theatres and not knowing what to watch, definitely give this flick a shot.

Final Score: 7.5/10