Bad Teacher

The Bad Teacher in question is Elizabeth Halsey, Played by Cameron Diaz, who is teaching to pass time while she plans her expensive wedding to her multi millionaire fiance. The fiance wises up to her gold digging just in time to prevent the wedding and she is back in the John Adams Middle school, affectionately known as JAMS teaching a year seven class.

She is shallow obnoxious and obsessed with bagging a rich man, so when the new substitute teacher Scott, Justin Timberlake, turns out to be part of a well known watch making family she sets her sights firmly on him. Her erstwhile neighbour at the school a zany, passionate teacher called Amy Squirrel, Lucy Punch, also has thing for the new sub and they get on like a pair of peas in a pod. Halsey seeing a photo of the subs ex notices her large breasts and sets out to get herself a new rack, costing almost 9k she is desperate for money. She starts a slush fund and uses all her wiles to get the money but is always coming up short, she bemoans her lack of money to a fellow teacher who mentions the chance of a 5.7k bonus for the best scores in the county test so she changes her approach, ditching the continuous flow of inspirational high school films that she shows her class and goes on an educational bender to get the up to speed. Fearing the worst she sets out to steal a copy of the answers and much fun ensues.

Her attention on Timberlakes character is taken away on occasion by Russell the gym teacher, Jason Segel, who tells her is like a Terminator and wont give up on the chase to get into her knickers. A school trip to Springfield, which she tricks Amy out of, gives her a chance at at Scott which she takes, ringing Amy while the dry hump to rile her even more.

The cheating comes to light through investigative work by Amy and Halsey pulls out all the stops to get herself out of trouble, eventually sending poor Amy into relapse of the incident that happened in 2008, that’s as much as we know about it, just the date but it implies a breakdown. As with all american movies the love story sets in at the end and everything works out for Halsey.

The film is really very funny in places, Diaz is excellent as the horrible Halsey and some of her actions and comments are truly deplorable but hilarious at the same time. The poor kids are subjected to all manner of rude behaviour as are the rest of the school faculty especially the poor principal who is fooled by her pretend shared affection for dolphins. Segel is always good and manages to soldier on with is attempts to court in the face of some very pithy comments and put downs, he makes the romance bearable even if it does let the movie down in many ways.

There are some stand out moments in the film, the car wash scene being one along with the seduction of the county examiner and it is well worth a watch there are some weak performances though, Timberlake isnt great and the dumpy friend is almost a pastiche of so many other previously seen characters that she isnt as funny as she could have been. This film is all about rude and obnoxious behaviour and there isnt too much in the way of redemption in the end which is good.