Perry Kate Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Lucybespro It is a performances centric movie

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Beulah Bram A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

jimbo-53-186511 Guy Trilby (Jason Bateman)is a 40 year old man who never actually graduated 8th grade at school and uses this as a loophole to compete in the National Spelling Bee championships. Despite objections from many of the parents and the director of The National Spelling Bee championships Trilby remains unfazed and continues in his bid to win this tournament. Although seemingly keen to win the tournament, Trilby does have an ulterior motive which explains away his true reason for entering the tournament.When I looked at the plot line for this film I was unsure about it and wondered how much humour could be derived from a man entering a spelling competition with a bunch of kids??? To me the premise had all the trappings of a 'juvenile' comedy, but thankfully it was much funnier than I expected it to be.OK first things first; this film does have some 'low-brow' humour and yes it is a bit juvenile at times, but it did make me laugh a lot. I've always said that I don't mind 'low-brow' and 'juvenile' humour as long as it makes me laugh and it did here and that's clearly a big plus for this film.Bateman is the key here and he plays the role of 'man hating the whole world and the whole world owing man a favour' very well. The best scenes in the film are those which Bateman shares with his young co-star Rohan Chand. Chand had the difficult task of playing a nerdy overly talkative kid who could so easily have become annoying, but he's actually every bit as good as Bateman and as I've mentioned they are a joy to watch together - their opening scene on the plane together was brilliant as were all the scenes where Bateman was trying to get him to man up. True these are the sorts of things we've seen before, but as long as I'm laughing I really don't care if some of what I see isn't particularly original.Bateman plays an obnoxious character here and again this could have been something that could have grated on me whilst watching the film. However, again, he is a very funny character meaning that his obnoxious nature was something that I was often prepared to overlook. Working from Andrew Dodge's script Bateman is also given some good material to work from (as indeed are many of his co-stars).Whilst the picture is mostly funny and whilst it also has a mostly original plot line, the film does start to come apart slightly in the final third; Dodge's script starts to become a bit heavy-handed and a tad repetitive. Bateman also loses a little bit of control towards the end with what can only be described as some cheap-jack Jerry Springer type antics going on at the end - clearly it all exists to make a point, but it all felt a bit forceful to me. The twist at the end explaining away Bateman's desire to compete in the Spelling Bee was also a bit lame which was a bit of a shame given that the picture had a fairly original plot line.Yes there are some flaws here but when looking at the film in its entirety there is definitely more good than bad. Despite losing its way slightly towards the end, the fine performances, humour, and mostly original plot line make it an interesting and very enjoyable picture.

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.

leonblackwood Review: This movie cracked me up! Guy Trilby (Jason Bateman) is blatantly rude to everyone, kids as well and the fact that he's a 40 year old man trying to win the Spelling Bee contest, which is full of kids, made this movie original and a great watch. While he's on the plane, making his way to the Golden Quill National spelling Bee contest, a ten year old kid keeps on bothering him because he wants to become his friend. No matter how rude Guy is to him, he still wants to be his friend so they end up building a buddy relationship, even though they have to challenge each other in the contest. Guy also has a journalist travelling with him because she wants to find out why he is entering these contests at such an old age. All of the parents are against him because he is so old but he was able to find a loophole in the rules so there is no way to exclude him from the contest. I really liked the buddy relationship with the 10 year old and Guy but it has to be his horrible attitude that cracked me up. When Guys true motivation comes out, it gives the movie a meaning but it didn't take away the comedy element that is throughout the film. It reminded me of Bad Teacher when Cameron Diaz was completely rude to the kids but this movie does have a meaning behind it and it's cleverly written. Anyway, if you want to watch a movie which is full of adult humour then this will definitely make you laugh. Enjoyable!Round-Up: This is the first movie directed by Jason Bateman, who also played the lead and it might have made a lose at the box office but I still think that it was a great achievement. His career started in 1981 were he starred in the Little House of the Prairie series and then he became a household name when he took the lead in Teenwolf Too in 1987. He then had roles in many TV series like Valerie, Simon and Chicago Sons and then he started to get some juicy roles for the big screen in movies like Starsky & Hutch, Dodgeball, the Break- Up, the Kingdom, Juno, Hancock, State of Play, Paul and Up in the Air. He's hasn't got that many tools in the box but he does have a unique comedic style which really worked in the Horrible Bosses franchise and the Change-Up which also starred Ryan Reynolds. His dry humour really worked in this film, especially the scenes when his with his little side kick but it's such a shame that this film might go under the radar. His next movie, the Family Fang, which stars Christopher Walken and Nicole Kidman, is a dramatic movie which will show a different side to Bateman acting skills, after starring in so many comedies. Although he has starred in a lot of movies, he hasn't done anything that has amazed the audiences yet but I'm sure that he will be up for an Oscar soon. Budget: $10million Worldwide Gross: $8millionI recommend this movie to people who are into their comedy/dramas about a 40 year old man who finds a loophole in the spelling bee contest which means that he can enter against young kids. 6/10

Reno Rangan I thought it was Cliff Curtis' movie because that's whom I saw in one of the posters. Anyway, it's Jason Bateman's movie, which is also his first directional venture. A refreshing theme because only a very few movies were made based on the spelling bee contest, but this one was a bit messed up story narration. Most of the narrative looked so pale and dull. It is supposed to be an exciting storytelling with blistering pace.You know, stories in the movies happen with a backdrop of the reasons. Like a piece of uninteresting wood carved into a something that attracts everybody. Some movie holds it till the end to reveal that beauty in the form of a twist, but some won't mind explaining it along the way. In this movie, what they had for the twist was lifeless, boring one, more like a cliché from the older days flick.The boy from the movie 'Jack and Jill' was decent. I felt some material in the movie was inappropriate regarding a minor in one of the lead roles. But I know the title clearly suggests it is only for adults. Understandable that the writer wanted to give something new, but he could not get it right. Maybe lacked to bring some interesting and inspiring elements. What surprised me was, it was not either for commercial benefit nor a fine art piece.All the way I knew something was not clinching and finally found out the approach to portray the main character in the negative mode had to do with something. They wanted the viewers to go against him and well, they got it in a way. Interestingly the screenplay was from the 'Black List' which was untouched for almost 10 years. Unfortunately Bateman decided to give it a try and the result is,... Here I'm with not satisfied fully, but okay-okay movie for being at least something different.6/10