Now Playing: ‘Bad Words’

Jason Bateman vs. children in ‘Bad Words’

Jason Bateman has been crafting comedy genius for so long in front of the camera that it’s perhaps inevitable he would eventually move behind it as well.Bad Words is his directorial debut, a promising and blessedly short if wildly uneven hour-and-a-half of rude comedy about a misanthropic adult who crashes a kids’ spelling bee.

Bad Wordsis still playing just about everywhere. My review is atPopMatters:

Guy Trilby is custom-made for Bateman’s perfected ad...