Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

EBJ Overall: This movie, to me, is a hilarious movie that just doesn't care. Not the type of humor many will enjoy but those that do, it is a treat.Good: It has a dark tone of humor which I find hilarious but I can understand this might put people of. It's a stupid yet memorable concept with stupid but lovable characters. The acting all around is superb, especially from some of the kids.Bad: Despite it's peculiar concept, the actual overall plot of the movie is quite weak. It is kind of pointless that they just couldn't kick Guy out of the contest but then than is movie making. There seems be no reason for the news to be accompanying Guy other than a love interest which doesn't work that well. His whole father plot line with the dramatic reveal was pointless and came of as forced.Best Part: The albeit controversial scene where Guy meets his 'friend' on the plane shows the boundary this movie would cross. It's crude yet hilarious and sets the characters relationship up perfectly.7/10

Abby Watts Let's get something straight right away. This movie appears to be cashing in on its so-called edginess and dark offensive humor. The humor is none of those things because the movie is too boring to be offensive. Also, if people honestly think the stuff he says is somehow going past the line of today's comedy, I want to know what world they're living in. In the real world, this sort of dialogue is now considered standard fare, thanks to years and years of massaging audiences with doses of offensive humor by everyone from stand up comedians, to Howard Stern to the typical toilet humor found in nine out of ten teen comedies. Like the frog boiling slowly in water, we didn't notice how far it had gotten until now it's too late, our culture is over, stick a fork in it.Still, just because the vast majority of people who use crude humor do so because they are talentless hacks (see Howard Stern), there is still a legitimate place for it in the hands of the right person/people. However, this movie has way more problems than questionable humor, like some sort of point. The plot is a guy as an adult enters a prestigious spelling bee to get back at his father. In between, he meets annoying-and I do mean ANNOYING-kids, especially the Indian kid, with whom he forms an unlikely bond. That's it. That's the plot. It's just as entertaining as it sounds. If you've always wanted to see Jason Bateman sleepwalking through supposedly offensive dialogue with dozens of irritating little kids sprinkled throughout, your prayers have been answered.Bateman has a limited acting range, and working with a bad script is a kiss of death because he can't make a good performance save a bad movie. He was good in 'Extract' because that part was practically written for him. Kathryn Hahn is in this, so I won't give it one star for that reason alone.

Scott LeBrun Debuting feature director Jason Bateman stars here as Guy Trilby, a 40 year old former proofreader for product guarantees. One day he gets the bright idea to enroll in a national Spelling Bee. He's found a loophole which he can exploit, so he's off and running, competing against kids a quarter of his age. These include the annoying but endearing Chaitanya Chopra (Rohan Chand), a boy with a demanding, somewhat distant father. Despite being a wise ass and a potty mouth (as well as a man on a mission), Guy finds himself befriending the boy."Bad Words" is a gem for this viewer. On the surface, it would seem to be a standard tale of an ageing loser, with much of the raunchiness and vulgarity expected from that sort of thing. Well, the movie doesn't disappoint in that regard, but it also turns out to have a fair bit of heart, without going overboard on sentiment. Guy is an enigma for a long time, confounding the reporter (the sexy Kathryn Hahn) with whom he frequently ends up having sex. (During which she apparently doesn't like being looked at.) And the friendship that develops between the smart alecky adult and the earnest kid was written in an entertaining and convincing way. Not surprisingly, Guy introduces Chaitanya to such grown up delights as ogling breasts, as well as teaching him the joys of practical jokes.The language is often colourful enough to generate some laughs, although "Bad Words" never does wallow in complete raunchiness or unpleasantness. The words chosen for the spelling bee are pretty damn amusing at times.Bateman does a creditable job as director, as well as delivering an engaging performance. Hahn, Allison Janney, Philip Baker Hall, Ben Falcone, Steve Witting, Beth Grant, Anjul Nigam, and Bob Stephenson are among a rock solid supporting cast. Young Chand is very likable.Overall, a smart, funny tale recommended to comedy lovers tired of the predilection towards political correctness in current times.Eight out of 10.

edwagreen Disappointing film with a really inane premise. Angry at the father who abandoned him and his mother years before, a man sets his sights by getting back at him by participating in a spelling bee contest where he knows that his father is presiding him.Jason Bateman is the 40 year old getting back at his father by doing this. He is an angry individual. An 8th grade drop-out who strikes out verbally with his mouth. For sure he is a misanthrope, a hater of mankind.He befriends a 9 year old at the bee and teaches him about life. The constant use of 4 letter words is inappropriate, as is the way the spelling bee is finally decided.Allison Janney plays a real stinker here. Ahead of the spelling bee, she harasses Bateman for participating, and is soon found out to be quite a character herself.You're taking a serious subject matter and almost making it inane.