Bad Teacher Reviews

There is a certain energy in that movie. Especially at the beginning when Cameron Diaz seems invincible she has the time of her life (almost literally). There is a great sequence where she kinda falls down though which sets of the rest of the movie. Unfortunately even though it does make sense for her character, it does loose quite a bit of its pace from that point on.

Justin Timberlake is good in playing kind of against character and does not care about what people may think. Jason Segel is almost underused in this one and even Cameron Diaz did not really have that many great moments overall. And for a movie that tries to stay raunchy, it does even fail at combining that with the funny elements. While deliciously evil at times (and good), it also misses the point half of the time. Not really bad, but not that good either (I only watched the cinema release and not the extended cut)

Nominated
People's Choice Award Favorite Comedy Movie

I thought this movie was so vastly disappointing… I mean, it was pretty obvious that the makers were inspired by ‘Bad Santa’ but why not? Indeed, on a paper, it sounded a great idea to have a female teacher completely misbehaving. I have to admit it, they got a few things right as the main character was actually well written and Cameron Diaz delivered also a solid performance. Unfortunately, aside from the main charater, the whole thing was actually poorly written from the plot to all the other characters. In my opinion, they should have kept the intro, that worked fine, but just skip the whole breast implant thing. What a poor gimmick to move on the plot… Just drop the main character back to school, facing the everyday struggle, half drunk and stoned, while the rest of her colleagues have the best time of their life. Concerning Justin Timberlake, his character started out fine but then, again, this guy was so under-written, it was just boring and the way they ended up in bed was just terribly contrived. It would have been better if she found a soul mate with Jason Segel right from the start and see how they could make fun of their colleagues and mess up the school everyday life. To conclude, the whole thing felt like a missed oportunity, it is eventually a rather weak comedy and it is not really worth a look.

Public schoolteachers have been getting a pretty bad rap recently, between taking the brunt of the blame for both the declining graduation rates and the escalating deficit of many a state's economy. Promising to tarnish the noble profession's reputation even further is this lowbrow comedy revolving around a shameless gold digger too obsessed with landing a sugar daddy to worry about the welfare of her 7th grade students.

Elizabeth Halsey (Cameron Diaz) is a foul-mouthed, pot-smoking alcoholic who lets her class at John Adams Middle School (JAMS) watch movies every morning so she can close her eyes while her hangover wears off. At the point of departure, we find the self-abusing schoolmarm singularly focused on her impending wedding to a filthy-rich heir (Nat Faxon) she sees only as her meal ticket to a pampered life in the lap of luxury.






After all, she's already gotten the gullible guy to give her a Mercedes convertible as well as access to his credit card. However, he wises up and calls off the wedding when informed by his mom (Stephanie Faracy) that his conniving fiancée has maxed out his account.

Consequently, Elizabeth rather reluctantly returns to JAMS in the fall, with finding another well-heeled, prospective hubby at the top of her agenda. Sure, the affable gym teacher, Russell Gettis (Jason Segel), starts flirting with her again, but he doesn't have nearly enough money to hold her interest.

As it turns out, there is a new substitute teacher, Scott Delacorte (Jason Timberlake), who fits the bill quite nicely. However, Elizabeth immediately encounters some stiff competition for his affection from Amy Squirrell (Lucy Punch), and soon decides that breast implants might turn the tide in her favor. And with a $5,000 bonus in store for the teacher whose class performs the best on the big standardized test at the end of the semester, Elizabeth finds herself highly motivated for the first time to help her students maximize their test scores.

So unfolds Bad Teacher, a decidedly-adult romp directed by Jake Kasdan (Walk Hard). Don't be deceived by the movie's premise which probably sounds a lot more like a set-up for a classic love triangle than a titillating teensploit. But be forewarned, this Cameron Diaz vehicle seizes on any excuse to serve up crude fare whether by having the heroine engage in relentlessly-vulgar repartee or merely prance around suggestively scantily clad.

Provided you're in the mood for such salacious fare, Bad Teacher does deliver the requisite number of raunchy rib ticklers to be worth the investment for those in the testosterone-driven demographic.

If this is what passes as comedy these days then I really do not want to live on this planet anymore. Dull and unimaginative with a washed-out terrible main actress that is apparently desperate for roles as I have no idea what kind of person would willingly sign a contract for garbage like this.
I had high hopes in Timberlake after his surprisingly convincing protrayal of Sean Parker in The Social Network but thanks to Bad Teacher said hopes have already, just 1 year after TSN, been shattered

Love this movie watched it with my mother. It was so funny made me want to be a teacher.

"My full-time job is finding a guy that's gonna take care of me."

On paper, Bad Teacher must have sounded like a promising idea for a gleeful black comedy, as it was designed in the mould of 2003's Bad Santa and it concerns the behind-the-scenes behaviour of school teachers. The title's similarity to Bad Santa is surely not a coincidence - Bad Teacher is very reminiscent of the earlier picture in spirit, and the protagonist of both movies is a cruel, mean-spirited, foul-mouthed alcoholic. (One can almost imagine a ragtag franchise of Bad movies being spearheaded...) However, in its finished form, 2011's Bad Teacher is a complete misfire. The film was written by the duo responsible for 2009's abominable Year One, which perhaps makes the material's awfulness less surprising. Heck, just by mentioning the screenwriters' prior works, this review could be concluded right here...

Upon completing her first year as a school teacher, slutty gold digger Elizabeth Halsey (Diaz) quits her job, looking to marry her sugar daddy and settle down for life. When her fiancé promptly breaks off the engagement, though, Elizabeth begrudgingly returns to teaching where she keeps her students busy with movies while spending school hours hungover, asleep or high. A rival soon emerges for Elizabeth in form of chirpy, academic overachiever Amy Squirrel (Punch), who resents Elizabeth's behaviour. Hoping to get breast implants to help her land a rich hubbie, Elizabeth begins scheming to scrape together thousands of dollars through embezzling and even rigging an exam. Catching onto Elizabeth's plan, Amy begins working to expose her co-worker's misdeeds. Meanwhile, earnest gym teacher Russell (Segel) watches from the sidelines and makes continual passes at Elizabeth, but she's far more interested in wealthy substitute teacher Scott (Timberlake) who's heir to a lucrative watch-making dynasty.

Chief among Bad Teacher's biggest faults is that Elizabeth makes little sense as a person. For instance, she often shows up to work hungover but we do not see her actually drinking or partying. In fact her outside life is barely glimpsed save for a couple of ineffective scenes in her apartment, where she's just slouching on her living room lounge. And when Elizabeth begins to actually teach her students, the habitual slacker seems to be extremely knowledgeable about books like Animal Farm and To Kill a Mockingbird. Since when is she so intelligent? Rather than a fully-rounded individual like Billy Bob Thornton in Bad Santa, Elizabeth remains a thinly-sketched caricature who mysteriously changes at the script's convenience. Worse, the ending hints that Elizabeth has turned a new leaf and changed her ways, but the transformation is too sudden to feel like a cohesive, logical arc. The narrative is too shambolic, jumping from set-piece to set-piece without providing necessary bridge scenes or adequate material to give weight to Elizabeth's character. The filmmakers clearly imagined we'd overlook these lapses in logic in order to have a few laughs and enjoy the ride. Unfortunately, while the film is well-paced, there are too few laughs to be had - you may laugh four or five times, but the next day you'll be hard-pressed to remember what you found so amusing.

Ultimately, screenwriters Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky were unable to conceive of enough comedy that's worth a damn. Instead, they chose to dish up lazy, half-hearted, unfunny humour akin to their dismal Year One. Compounding the awfulness is the lethargic delivery of the jokes, giving the impression that director Jake Kasdan (Walk Hard) was fast asleep at the helm. The notion of Bad Teacher being the work of a truly invested, passionate filmmaker is ridiculous. And despite its R rating, Bad Teacher is simultaneously neither soft nor dark enough. If the language was tweaked and a few raunchy scenes were removed, this could've been rated PG-13. An R-rated picture was definitely preferable and it's good that the filmmakers stuck to their guns, but the jokes are too sophomoric and the plot is so uncreative and drab that mature-aged audience members won't find much of interest here. Perhaps the studio forbade Kasdan from going as far as he wanted in terms of bad taste. Again, give me Bad Santa any day.

If nothing else, Cameron Diaz's performance as Elizabeth is somewhat amusing, and it looks as if she had a ball playing the role. To the actress' credit, she managed to maintain a bit of amiability despite her character's reprehensible nature. Then there's Lucy Punch (Hot Fuzz), who went as over-the-top as possible playing Amy Squirrel. She gets a few laughs, but her performance is more awkwardly overzealous than flat-out amusing. Justin Timberlake (The Social Network) is the cast's weakest link as Scott - he did well enough with the material he was given, but he failed to own the role and he's ultimately interchangeable. Meanwhile, Jason Segel (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) is genial and sweet, as he always is.

The occasional laugh aside, there's not much to recommend about the generic, trite Bad Teacher. Of course, humour is subjective and some may find the film to be a total laugh riot, but for this reviewer's taste the film is just flat-out not funny enough. It's a great idea that's been committed to film, and that's about all there is to Bad Teacher. Perhaps the production started life as something greater than the subpar finished movie.

3.2/10

Overall, just a halfway decent comedy to sit down, enjoy, then completely forget about. Mostly decent script, cast, and acting, the movie actually generates some laughs, but it isn't anything spectacular. Cameron Diaz' character's quest for a breast enlargement sees her going to some amusing lengths to raise the needed cash, but overall, the message that women need big breasts to get a decent guy is pretty disgusting.

Jason Segel was good, Justin Timberlake did a decent job as well. Lucy Punch was fantastic in her role, and Cameron Diaz did a better job here than she did in "Green Hornet". Completely predictable, yet enjoyable enough to watch start to finish, but as I say, totally forgettable.

This Cameron Diaz's movie always serves only to spend time, it doesn't add absolutely nothing, the script is generally pretty weak, as well for the photography. But still thus, I could laugh onto some funny scenes and it's enjoyable to watch, though. It also could have been more elaborated.

Bad teacher was on of those raunchy comedies that you thought might go over the top but then you realized that you were having fun watching it. It was quick witted and spot on with the jokes. Diaz played her role great and Timberlake was actually funny. Segal stole the show with his role as the gym teacher. It was actually great to see three good acting jobs in the same movie. Not one of my favorite movies all time but quite entertaining.

I just want to start this review by saying it is highly annoying and beligerent to me when a person talks or yells out something during a movie. It reminds me of one of the Scary Movies where she is stabbed by the quiet audience. Ah, good times, good times indeed. Anyway, back to the review. Bad Teacher stars Cameron Diaz as a non-caring teacher who finds sugar daddies to take care of her. After being dumped, she must attend her teaching job once again to barely pay the bills. While the premise is based upon her making enough money to buy a new chest for herself, the comedy makes many jokes throughout the movie. I was not laughing every two minutes, but it is definitely worthwhile to watch. I felt it could have been longer, or maybe more development, but otherwise is was overall done well. Lucy Punch as the top teacher of the school who continuously bumps heads with Diaz basically steals the show. Her character is spot on. Justin Timberlake does a fantastic job as well playing the next target of Ms. Halsey. Every character in the movie helps connect everythign very well. The story seems to only scratch the surface of what it could have been, but the cast makes up for it. Enjoy.

7/10