Bad Words

"The end justifies the mean."

2013 1h 29m EN

😐

6.4

MID

★6.4TMDB · 930

Comedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Forty-year-old misanthrope, Guy Trilby, enters the National Golden Quill Spelling Bee through a loophole in the rules.

“The end justifies the mean.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

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

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jason Bateman
Writers: Andrew Dodge
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

89 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 82% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 13 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Jason Bateman, shot by Ken Seng. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Rolfe Kent. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Tatiana S. Riegel shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Jason Bateman and Kathryn Hahn and Rohan Chand carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The end justifies the mean.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jason Bateman directs. Ken Seng behind the camera. Rolfe Kent scores. Tatiana S. Riegel cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

189 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Earned back only 82% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
3Released 13 years ago.
4Directed by Jason Bateman, shot by Ken Seng. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Rolfe Kent. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Tatiana S. Riegel shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Jason Bateman and Kathryn Hahn and Rohan Chand carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "The end justifies the mean.".
9IMDB entry: tt2170299 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Ken Seng
Original score: Rolfe Kent
Editing: Tatiana S. Riegel
Production design: Shepherd Frankel
Costume design: April Napier
Makeup / hair: Bonni Flowers
VFX supervisor: Thomas Tannenberger
Sound: Chris David
Runtime: 89 min · 1h 29m
Status: Released
Budget: $9,500,000
Box office: $7,800,000
Return: 82% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Bad Words (2013)

Also by

Jason Bateman

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Reno2015-07-08
★ 6/10
Good lie, bad words and ugly truth. I thought it was Cliff Curtis' movie because that's whom I saw in one of the posters. Anyway, it's Jason Bateman's movie, which is also his first directional venture. A refreshing theme because only a very few movies were made based on the spelling bee contest, but this one was a bit messed up story narration. Most of the narrative looked so pale and dull. It is supposed to be an exciting storytelling with blistering pace. You know, stories in the movies happen with a backdrop of the reasons. Like a piece of uninteresting wood carved into a something that attracts everybody. Some movie holds it till the end to reveal that beauty in the form of a twist, but some won't mind explaining it along the way. In this movie, what they had for the twist was lifeless, boring one, more like a cliché from the older days flick. The boy from the movie 'Jack and Jill' was decent. I felt some material in the movie was inappropriate regarding a minor in one of the lead roles. But I know the title clearly suggests it is only for adults. Understandable that the writer wanted to give something new, but he could not get it right. Maybe lacked to bring some interesting and inspiring elements. What surprised me was, it was not either for commercial benefit nor a fine art piece. All the way I knew something was not clinching and finally found out the approach to portray the main character in the negative mode had to do with something. They wanted the viewers to go against him and well, they got it in a way. Interestingly the screenplay was from the 'Black List' which was untouched for almost 10 years. Unfortunately Bateman decided to give it a try and the result is,... Here I'm with not satisfied fully, but okay-okay movie for being at least something different. 6/10

Production companies