Underplayed Gems

Bad Words (2013)

Bad Words poster
Directed by
Jason Bateman
Genre
comedy film
Country
United States
Runtime
1h 29m
Rated
R
Rating
6.4 of 10 from 909 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

A bitter 40 year old dropout exploits a loophole to compete in a kids' national spelling bee. He forms an unlikely bond with an earnest young rival.

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What happens

Bad Words is a 2013 American black comedy film directed by Jason Bateman and written by Andrew Dodge. Marking Bateman's feature film directorial debut, the film stars Bateman as a middle-aged eighth grade dropout who enters the National Golden Quill Spelling Bee through a loophole. It also stars Kathryn Hahn, Rohan Chand, Ben Falcone, Philip Baker Hall, and Allison Janney. Dodge's screenplay for Bad Words was featured on the 2011 Black List and was shortly thereafter picked up by Bateman. In the original script, the story was set at the Scripps National Spelling Bee, but the name was changed to a fictional bee since the filmmakers did not expect Scripps to allow the use of their name in the film. After two other actors declined to play the main character, Bateman decided to take on the role himself, and cast the other roles by a combination of contacting friends and open casting calls. Filming took place in Los Angeles at the end of 2012. The film premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival on September 6, 2013, and had a limited release in the United States on March 14, 2014, expanding to a wide release on March 28. Produced for $10 million, it earned $7.8 million at the theatrical box office. It received mixed reviews from critics: some enjoyed the humor and direction, while others found the main character unlikeable and the humor offensive. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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