Rating of
1/4
Learning Just How Bad A Movie Can Be
MovieMike - wrote on 12/22/11
Seeing where this movie’s tag line is: ‘She doesn’t give an F’, I’m thinking the folks who put this sorry piece of entertainment together won’t mind if the audience doesn’t either. Director, Jake Kasdan (‘Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story’), fails miserably with what could have been a bonanza of material for laughs. I was expecting something approaching the likes of ‘Superbad’ or ‘Bad News Bears’. I suppose some of the blame can also be laid on writers Gene Stupnitsky (‘The Office’, ‘Year One’) and Lee Eisenberg (‘The Office’), who only manage to wring out a few genuine laughs during the 92 minutes of this disappointing effort.
The story gives us Cameron Diaz as the ultimate slacker-teacher, Elizabeth Halsey. Interested in only rich men and a good time, she treats her job as an inconvenience. After being bounced by her meal-ticket fiancé, she’s forced to go back to the only job she knows, but she does so with an ulterior motive. Said motivation only underlines her character’s shallowness. Usually with a character like this, there is some endearing quality, or spark of potential for redemption that drives the development of the story. Sorry, that is absent from this class.
Thrown into the mix is Justin Timberlake, as a substitute teacher, Scott Delacorte, who catches Halsey’s eye. Lucy Punch (‘Dinner For Schmucks’) steps in as the competition for the obviously well heeled Delacorte. She is also the exact opposite of Halsey when it comes to dedication to her profession. Timberlake is not as good as you’d expect here – his character being so lame as to break the dork-o-meter. He’s done better work in his stints on ‘Saturday Night Live’.
Jason Segel plays gym teacher, Russel Gettis in a role that seemed to have been written for someone like Vince Vaughn. Gettis persistently vies for the attention of Halsey, though one would truly have to wonder why. Phyllis Smith (‘The Office’) is also in the cast and provides a few light moments, but is under utilized here. The other thing that was irritating was the film’s lack of subtlety - most of the plot elements seemed to be just jammed into place. I found the casual drug use and drinking presented throughout the story was more disturbing than funny.
It’s too bad that Cameron Diaz hasn’t found a vehicle that would equal her effort in ‘There’s Something About Mary’. I resisted walking out of this movie, thinking that her character would have an epiphany just as the credits were set to roll. But no, because much like neglecting to choose the obvious answer on a multiple-choice question, I was proven to be wrong. This is one class(-less movie) you should skip.
