Diaz is so 'Bad' that it hurts

I once overheard a girl in one of my college English classes talking about her upcoming teaching career. She raved about having her summers off, the tenure she gets in three years and a day, but spent less then a minute talking about her goals for her students.

Elizabeth Halsey, as portrayed by Cameron Diaz, in the hilarious comedy, Bad Teacher, substitutes movies for books, takes no interest in her students and sleeps at her desk either stoned or nursing a hangover, which is exactly how I imagine that same girl now runs her classroom.

It begins on the last day of school which also happens to be Elizabeth’s last day at John Adams Middle School. She plans on marrying her wealthy boyfriend so she can leave teaching for good. Her fiancé dumps her and she’s back at the same school that following fall. She’s crasser, meaner and even finds an arch nemesis in superteacher, Amy Squirrel (Lucy Punch).

Scott Delacorte (Justin Timberlake) arrives as a substitute teacher. Once Elizabeth learns about his wealthy background, she pursues him relentlessly. Russell Gettis (Jason Segel), a gym teacher at JAMS, is constantly rejected by Elizabeth each time he asks her out, but takes it in stride.

Scott and Amy begin seeing each other which makes Elizabeth more determined to get breast implants. First, she has to find a way to pay for them. She manages to earn the first half by taking over the school’s car wash. The other half comes in a bonus she’ll receive if her students get the highest standardized test scores in the district.

Amy is onto Elizabeth and stops at nothing to expose her scams, especially if it means she can get her removed from John Adams for good.

Diaz, with the exception of There’s Something about Mary and Being John Malkovich, always tried too hard to be funny by exaggerating her movements or her speech. Here, she reminds us that she’s a natural comedian, by being fearlessly unlikable and dropping her “F” bombs with delicious relish.

Segel does something different with Russell by not having him act like a drooling idiot or sulk over Elizabeth’s rejections. Instead, he sits back, and lets Elizabeth learn for herself that he’s the right one for her. Timberlake shows that not only is he game to be the film’s dimwit, but also that he’s very funny at playing it. Punch, with her scarily sweet smile and over the top devotion to her students, makes Amy too much of a clown. A more subtle approach would’ve made her a better antagonist for Elizabeth.
Screenwriters Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky remember what makes a good black comedy by not instantly turning Elizabeth into a better person. You never know when Elizabeth will change her ways, because she maintains her blunt and shallow demeanor throughout most of the film, which makes the ending more satisfying.

Though there are a couple of the now required gross out gags, Director Jake Kasdan doesn’t constantly rely on them to get laughs. He realizes that he has good comedic material and the right actors to deliver it. This is most notable in the scenes where Diaz and Segel prove themselves as equals when it comes to sarcasm. Kasdan focuses on their natural chemistry and it clearly works to their advantage.

Unlike Bridesmaids, which sold itself out by its end, Bad Teacher maintains its anti-heroine stance. We laugh at Elizabeth’s actions on film, but in real life we would ask how any school could have a teacher like her?” It’s the same thing that the parents of the students of that same girl from my English class ask themselves on a daily basis.