Bad Words (2013)

A spelling bee loser sets out to exact revenge by finding a loophole and attempting to win as an adult.

Director:

Jason Bateman

Writer:

Andrew Dodge

Stars:

Jason Bateman, Kathryn Hahn, Allison Janney

2 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jason Bateman	...	Guy Trilby
Kathryn Hahn	...	Jenny Widgeon
Rohan Chand	...	Chaitanya Chopra
Philip Baker Hall	...	Dr. Bowman
Allison Janney	...	Dr. Bernice Deagan
Ben Falcone	...	Pete Fowler
Steve Witting	...	Proctor at Spelling Bee
Beth Grant	...	Bedazzled Judge
Gwen Parden	...	Brace Faced Girl
Anjul Nigam	...	Sriram Chopra
Allan Miller	...	Bald Glasses Judge
Bob Stephenson	...	Bill Murhoff
Patricia Belcher	...	Ingrid
Matthew Zhang	...	Braden Aftergood
Madison Hu	...	Ling Quan

Storyline

An adult, who has been a school dropout, finds a loophole in the regulations and participates in the largest spelling bee in the USA, The Golden Quill. His aim is to take revenge for something done to him in the past.

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Plot Keywords:

spelling bee | spelling | two word title | directed by star | indian american | 

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Taglines:

The end justifies the mean.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for crude and sexual content, language and brief nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 March 2014 (USA)

Also Known As:

Palavrões

Filming Locations:

Sportsmen's Lodge - 12825 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$113,301, 16 March 2014, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$7,764,027, 16 May 2014

Company Credits

Production Co:

Aggregate Films, Darko Entertainment, Digital Image Associates

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The word "antidisestablishmentarianism" roughly means "against separation of church and state."

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Goofs

The only accepted format in a spelling bee is for a contestant to repeat their word, spell it, and announce it again. But when Guy Trilby is called in round 2 to spell Floccinaucinihilipilification, he simply spells the word and, once told he is correct, exits the podium and returns to his seat. In fact, this happens more than once in the film.

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Quotes

Jenny Widgeon: I was wondering what the grammatical significance of that sentence is: "Why run from fire ants?"
Guy Trilby: Well, every vowel's in there, starting with the u, going to the a. Right, it's backwards?
Jenny Widgeon: ...Well, I guess it's pretty easy, y'know, for a sentence. Y'know, I wish there was one word that had all the vowels in it in alphabetical order.
Guy Trilby: "Facetious."
Jenny Widgeon: Sonofabitch!

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Connections

References Donnie Brasco (1997)

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Soundtracks

Off the Grid
Performed by Beastie Boys
Written by Mike D (as Michael Louis Diamond), Adam Horovitz, Money Mark (as Mark Ramos Nishita) and Adam Yauch (as Adam Nathaniel Yauch)
Courtesy of Capitol Records LLC, under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

The "Bad Santa" of spelling movies.

I love comedies, but to be quite honest seldom do I laugh out loud continuously through a film. Bad Words left me in stitches. It has "oh no they didn't go there" humor in spades. It's not the crassness or taboo breaking in and of it self that makes this a great comedy, it's the tongue in cheek cleverness of it all. It's fearless, smart, bad taste like an early John Waters film or Bad Santa. Jason Bateman sells the vile Guy Trilby role and the co star kid played by Rohan Chand is fantastic and really is the child prodigy he plays. The entire cast plays it straight enough to make the absurdity realistic and believable so the whole movie hangs together as a story as well as a laugh factory.