'Bad Teacher'

'Bad Teacher' (R) (2 stars)

Writers: Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg
Director: Jake Kasdan
Starring: Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake, Jason Segal, Lucy Punch,
John Michael Higgins, Phyllis Smith

"Bad Teacher" wants to be a raunchy comedy with heart I guess. The problem is the movie holds back and is not raunchy enough. The movie becomes sappy in the end with a happy ending but the beginning promises a lot of raunchy laughs. It feels like the studio wanted the filmmakers to tack on a happy ending. This movie is very uneven and I didn't laugh a lot. The previews make the movie look raunchy like "The Hangover". The movie is not raunchy enough and holds too much back. The movie feels choppy and over edited and never finds a groove. The performances though are really funny and good here and the movie lets them down.

I like Cameron Diaz here and she can be really funny as you can tell if you take a look back at something like "There's Something About Mary". I think she is funny here but she could have been much better with a funnier movie. Justin Timberlake has become a comic sensation thanks to his performances on "SNL". He is great here playing a nerdy schmuck and there is a scene where he dry humps Diaz fully clothed in bed and thanks to Timberlake's facial reactions it is the funniest scene in the movie. Jason Segal is also good here but he is the heart part of the movie and when he gets together with Diaz it is awkward and  part of the fake tacked on ending.

The movie though is stolen by the talented Lucy Punch who plays a repressed goody two shoes teacher. She is extremely funny here and the reason the movie doesn't get worse. Lucy Punch has given some great comic performances lately and I hope someone writes a comedy just for her. I was waiting for "Bad Teacher" to go all out and become super raunchy but it is too timid. It never develops into anything really funny and tries to become a sweet movie with heart. There is a movie out now called "Bridesmaids" which is hilarious, raunchy and goes all out and then surprises us with it's heart and well written story.  That mix of raunch and heart can be done very well and sadly "Bad Teacher" doesn't know how to get the job done.