Nothing but good things to say about Jason Bateman’s directorial debut.
Between the continuous (and much-deserved) love for Black Panther and the excitement surrounding the instant sci-fi classic Annihilation, the Jason Bateman/Rachel McAdams-led comedy Game Night managed to find its own audience over the weekend. With it’s penchant for dark laughs and moments of farce, the film has enough pure comedy DNA to become a future genre favorite.
It’s another score for Bateman, who pulls double duty as one of the film’s producers. Unlike some of his contemporaries, Bateman has been selective when it comes to his behind-the-scenes ventures, particularly when it comes to directing. Yet, when he does take on such a role, the results oftentime lead to projects which favor offbeat humor and deceptively layered characters. Surely there’s no better example of this than in Bateman’s directorial debut, Bad Words.
In the Blacklist-cited Bad Words, Bateman plays Guy Trilby, a highly caustic proofreader who decides he is going to win the National Spelling Bee. Thanks to a loophole which says that all contestants shall not have advanced past the eighth grade in order to be eligible, the dropout Guy sets his sights on winning the bee while fighting off fellow competitor Chaitanya’s (Rohan Chand) attempts to befriend him. With hot mess reporter Jenny (Kathryn Hahn) in tow as his official sponsor, Guy looks set to mop the floor with all of his pint-sized competition until his true motives are discovered.
The most refreshing thing about Bad Words may be the fact that it’s script isn’t afraid to “go there” when it comes to the level of humor it favors. While the seething rage from the main character can be felt in every offensive line Guy utters, the script’s many laughs never fail to score as they throw PC caution to the wind. “Hey, Moms, let’s break out the rubber pillowcases tonight,” Guy proclaims at the start of the bee. “Little p**cks, you’re gonna be countin’ tears, not sheep.” So many of the exchanges happening between the cynical Guy and the hopelessly optimistic Chaitanya (to whom the former occasionally refers to as “Slumdog” or “Shwarma”) likewise leads to pure dark comedy gold. “If you don’t point your curry hole that way, and sit your fu**ing a** back down in that seat, I’m gonna tell the captain that your bag is ticking,” Guy calmly says to Chaitanya upon their introduction on an airplane signaling the first of Bad Words’ many offbeat buddy moments. “This soda pop is so delicious,” Chaitanya says at one point, prompting guy to comment: “I’d just say soda, otherwise you’re gonna get raped.” I’ve personally never bought into the notion that a movie’s main character need be likeable so long as they were interesting; and with one hateful but hilarious comeback after another, Guy never fails at being the latter.
Apart from the rude laughs, Bad Words eventually ends up going down a somewhat somber and telling path with regards to Guy’s overall journey and the reasons behind it. After spending mere minutes with the character, it doesn’t take long to see that this is one angry individual who is mad at the world and has no use for anyone beyond whatever momentary interaction he chooses to partake in with another person. At first glance, Guy’s determination to win the bee can be viewed purely as an act made by someone deeply furious with the way he feels society has failed him and has decided on this random, telling and somewhat perverse method of exacting his revenge. When Guy’s real motives behind his participation are revealed however, Bad Words becomes a more meaningful and human film with its main character going from angry and apathetic to wounded and severely resentful. The screenplay offers up the handful of expected moments when Guy’s guard temporarily comes down (mostly during the bonding montage between him and Chaitanya), but the deserved softening of his character ultimately comes from the closure he is able to find by the film’s end and the letting go of all the heavy anger he’s carried with him for so long.
One of the biggest casualties first-time directors often face when they cast themselves as their film’s lead is their own performance. In most cases, the individual is so concerned with the filmmaking process, that their work ON camera tends to fall short. Bateman is so in tune with Guy and the force driving him, that he never lets this happen. Expertly delivering harsh, but funny lines while zeroing in on Guy’s damaged elements results in one of the most magnetic performances of Bateman’s career. Hahn matches Bateman well, even if Jenny is a half-baked character. Still, in a rare leading film role, it’s great to watch her go to town with her character’s eccentricities (including not being able to have her sexual partners look at her during intercourse). Meanwhile, Chand is a delight, turning in the kind of child actor performance that could easily win over the kind of cynical moviegoers Bad Words would naturally attract and both Allison Janney and the great Philip Baker Hall have their moments to briefly shine as a pair high-ranking bee officials.
Despite a high-profile premiere at the Toronto film festival in September 2013, there wasn’t much fanfare which greeted Bad Words when Focus Features released it the following March. Although reviews were mixed, many critics were complimentary towards Bateman and his work as both the film’s star and director. Despite the praise however, Bad Words ended its run without even managing to recoup its small production budget.
Two years after Bad Words, Bateman returned behind the camera when he directed himself, Nicole Kidman and Christopher Walken in the sorely underrated dramedy The Family Fang. While wildly different on paper, the two films in Bateman’s feature directing filmography contain enough common themes between them with which to bestow upon their helmer a recognizable stamp. Both titles offer up wildly out there scenarios which would make the average person look puzzled, but are revealed to be heavily grounded in a reality which Bateman eagerly and thoughtfully explores. Ultimately though, it’s the complex characters, their intricacies and fractured relationships with their pasts as well as Bateman’s loving and honest approach to them which makes him one of the most compelling voices behind the camera.
