Just kidding. But it goes with the picture, see? In any event, neither Cars 2 nor Bad Teacher (pictured above, with Jason Segel and Cameron Diaz) are likely to win any awards in the Overweening Ambition department, but both land pretty squarely in the Largely Enjoyable department, and that ain’t nothing. My reviews for MSN Movies, here and here. The more conscientious, in the Conscientiousness department at least, A Better Life is not nearly as good, even, but does more than get by, some might believe, on the strength of its lead performances. I review that one here.
As a teacher, I’m biased, but I have to confess that after seeing the red-band trailer for Bad Teacher, I was secretly hoping the rest of the film would be as darkly comical and vulgar and it appears, thankfully, that this is the case. I know some teaching colleagues disapprove of the film (Waiting for Superman is still heavily on many teachers’ minds), but were they outraged when Election came out? I would think that teachers, especially our underpaid, under-appreciated colleagues in the USA, would appreciate a vulgar workplace comedy after having to wrap the school year up, marking final exams, finishing report cards and returning confiscated iPods and phones.
I’m so glad that LeBron didn’t get his ring; the joke in the Bad Teacher trailer still stands!