An Insightful Documentary on Education. . .

Ahahaha, just kidding. Anyone who knows anything about Bad Teacher knows that this is a comedy in the vein of Get Him to the Greek, the Hangover, and other ridiculous exaggerated movie plots. Here's a basic plot synopsis based on my memories of three weeks ago:

• Cameron Diaz plays terrible person/teacher Elizabeth Halsey, who winds up stuck in a job she hates after her fiancee finds out she's only in it for the money. She resorts to terrible antics in order to afford her boob job, including trying to seduce a substitute teacher from a wealthy family (Justin Timberlake) and going to war with a goody-goody teacher (played by Lucy Punch; I still haven't decided if she was annoying or funny). Jason Segel plays a gym teacher who tries to get Diaz even after being continually shot down. 

For anyone who likes Cameron Diaz, you'll probably like this movie more than I did. I don't like her, and primarily went to see this because of Jason Segel. Diaz is crude, contrived, and imbecilic, except when playing opposite Segel. Timberlake is juvenile and ridiculous, which could be the fault of the director, but I found him almost painful to watch. That said, one of his "best" songs ever is in one scene, which is painful and awesome to witness. I tend to think a good actor is born when they abandon all hope of self-respect. Unfortunately, that's not the case, but few people in this film have self-respect. The exception is Jason Segel. Anyone who has seen some of his previous work (How I Met Your Mother, Forgetting Sarah Marshall) knows he has a great boy-next-door, natural sense of comedic timing. He doesn't try to deliver a line, but it comes across. The lack of effort makes him a joy to watch, and he brings so much out of his costars. I laughed every time he was on the scene, and found myself smiling by the end of his scenes. That smile was soon erased, but I remembered the feeling of joy. I really don't know how to grade this film because I have such mixed emotions about the film and its stars. Definitely not worth seeing in theaters, but I'd suggest renting it. It's entertaining, more so than most television these days, and worth the dollar for redbox. I will probably never see it again and will be happy about that. 

Take that as you will.

2.5 stars out of 5