BAD WORDS  3.0***

 

        “Bad Words” is a dark comedy with instances of pure vulgarity and vileness that is at the same time, heartwarming–yes, you read that right.

The film opens with an unexplained 40 year old genius Guy Trilby (Jason Bateman) entering himself in a regional spelling bee, with a brief flashback explaining how he has been able to register legally. From the moment the movie starts, Bateman at first shocks you with his attitude and profanity but then quickly has you laughing. He easily wins the regional bee sending him off to the finals of the super bowl of spelling bees, The Golden Quill. Trilby meets "Chaitanya Chopra" played by Rohan Chand (“SlumDog Millionaire”) on the airplane to the competition and is quite annoyed but later is befriended by him at the hotel . Trilby uses mean dark humor as a strategy against some his young competitor spellers to throw off their concentration, which helps give him an edge and get him to the final spelling showdown with Chopra.

The mystery behind Trilby's anger with the world, constant bitterness and his obsession with winning the bee is at the center mystery of the film.   .

 

You will find some of the humor to be harsh, rude, and even racist, but if you can look past all that, it's really an enjoyably and quite funny.  And the envelope is constantly being pushed and with  each character Trilby interacts with, whether it be for an extended period of time or briefly,, Bateman nails each and every scene with a natural sense of arrogance.  

Bad Words is surely one of the most memorable comedies of the year. And the only thing bad about it, is how much you will find yourself laughing at some of the most inappropriate things.

Rated R for very crude and vulgar language  and some sexual content plus brief nudity.

 

Clark

NOTE: The title of this movie is misleading except to the extent he uses a lot of bad words and the movie poster is ridiculous… neither give you any idea what the movie is about.