BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
It’s hard not to believe that Jason Bateman is an awesome dude. He is always enjoyable and does well in the cool projects he seems to always pop up in. He was the central character in “Arrested Development” of course, but let’s not forget the rest of his career. I remember him on the “Hogan Family” back in the day and then as the “Teen Wolf” in the sequel to the Michael J. Fox original. He was always just a really likeable actor who seemed to find himself in really likable projects. When I read that he was branching out and directing a movie I was interested. He has provided years of enjoyment within his own specific style and personality that seeing a film directed by him could be just as awesome. The film is “Bad Words”, a movie he stars in and directs. The supporting cast is pretty awesome too. We get Allison Janney, Rachael Harris, Philip Baker Hall, and Kathryn Hahn all coming in and doing their thing. It’s a black comedy about a middle age guy who dropped out of eighth grade and now has something to prove. Hijinks and dark comedy ensues. Bateman gets tons of hate from everyone involved in the Bee from the hosts, the officials, and the parents. He gets in the head of the children and screws with them in some really evil ways. It’s hilarious. Meanwhile he’s with a reporter played by Kathryn Hahn who is there to back his cause and find out more and more about him. Slowly and surely she cracks the case and find out Bateman’s real motives. As the movie goes on, he begrudgingly befriends a little naive boy. The boy is wide-eyed, has no friends, is nerdy, has a bad father and is the cutest little kid ever. It’s hard not to enjoy this kid. He’s just so damn likable and a talented little actor. The chemistry between the kid and Bateman is awesome. It’s a small dark comedy, but it has heart and purpose. “Bad Santa” had a similar asshole/kid relationship, but it was much more darker and uncomfortable. In “Bad Words”, the relationship is better and with much more charm. This isn’t a big dark comedy where they hit on the big taboos and say “screw” to what’s acceptable by most people. It’s got a real plot that just so happens to feature a guy who just doesn’t give a shit. He doesn’t care what he says, who he offends and what anyone things. He still has a certain amount of class and self-respect. He’s not a mess, but just an asshole on a mission. What’s the mission? Watch the movie to find out. It’s less than an hour and a half and never lets up or gets boring. It’s paced well, moves quick, provides tons of laughs, and leaves you in the end feeling like you just saw something that makes you feel good. Bateman directed the shit out of this movie. I really liked the way the movie looked. He should be proud of his direction and proud of his awesome performance. It’s a shame this movie didn’t get a bigger push when it was released because it’s one of the best movies I’ve seen in a long time. If you’re a fan of Justin Bateman, dark comedies, quirky independent comedies, and movies that’ll make you laugh then you should see this movie. I’m having a hard time thinking of any role he Bateman has had that was better than this. With his great body of work, that says a lot. A
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