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| Cameron Diaz's naughty school teacher look's sex appeal is a major selling point for Jake Kasdan's Bad Teacher |
A morally questionable woman is forced to continue her life as a teacher in a middle school, when her relationship to a rich jerk falls apart, so she can afford the breast operation she wants.
The premise's drive (getting those breast implants) unsurprisingly doesn't result in comedy gold, as it is simply too arbitrary. But Bad Teacher is saved primarily by Cameron Diaz (The Holiday (2006)), who is wonderful in the lead and just as endearing as Jason Segel (Sex Tape (2014)), although their romance here doesn't make one's heart race out of control.
Justin Timberlake (Runner Runner (2013)) is convincing as a preppy fool/substitute teacher, and several wacky comedic actors amuse in side parts: Lucy Punch (Someone Marry Barry (2014)) is energetic; Phyllis Smith (The Office (2005-13)) is delightful; Thomas Lennon (Bob's Burgers (2012-16)) is funny, and John Michael Higgins (Tween Fest (2016), TV-series) as the dolphin-obsessed school leader is fantastic. They all help make Bad Teacher go down much better than it otherwise might have.
The film is written by Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg (Hello Ladies (2013-14), both) and directed by great Michigander filmmaker Jake Kasdan (Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007)).
Related post:
Jake Kasdan, with Diaz and Segel: Sex Tape (2014) - Sex comedy fun with beloved stars Diaz & Segel
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: 20 mil. $
Box office: 216.1 mil. $
= Mega-hit
[Bad Teacher premiered 17 June (the UK and Ireland) and runs 97 minutes. Columbia Pictures bought Stupnitsky and Eisenberg's spec script in 2008. Filming took place in California, including Los Angeles, and in Illinois around March 2010. The film opened #2, behind fellow new release Cars 2, to a solid 31.6 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it remained in the top 5 for two more weeks (#3, #5) and grossed 100.2 mil. $ (46.4 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Germany with 18.7 mil. $ (8.7 %) and Russia with 13.4 mil. $ (6.2 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 2 star review, translating to a notch harder than this review. Kasdan directed for TV-series Ben and Kate (2012) and New Girl (2011-13) before returning with the less successful but slightly better next pairing of Diaz and Segel, Sex Tape (2014). Bad Teacher is rotten at 44 % with a 5.3/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
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