Chicago Reader March 27, 2014 Trashy, ribald laughs in the Bad Santa vein, this marks Bateman’s directorial debut; it’s not much to look at, but at least he has the...
Directed by Bateman in his first solo effort and written by Andrew Dodge, the film is an irreverant jape with its fair share of standout comic perf...
Bateman deserves props for sustaining Bad Words as a little balancing act between sulfurously funny hatred and humanity.
New York Times March 13, 2014 The performances are funny, appealing and, in the case of Allison Janney, as a spelling bee official, wonderful.
The Dissolve March 14, 2014 [Jason Bateman’s] an automaton, a joke machine-and as long as he stays that way, Bad Words offers shock for shock’s sake.
"Bad Words" serves, at least, as proof that Bateman can do a variety of parts, and direct a smart economical comedy – and if Ho...
A movie that promises to skewer sentimentality about children and the parents who live their lives through them ends up as an arrested adolescent&r...
New York Post March 13, 2014 A young Jack Nicholson might have pulled this off, but Jason Bateman is not Jack Nicholson. Pity the actor who thinks he’s edgier than he act...
Rolling Stone March 13, 2014 In this profanely funny comedy of bad manners and hurts that won’t heal, Bateman shows the same skill as a filmmaker that he does as an...
For his directorial debut, Mr. Bateman acquits himself nicely, promising even better things to come.
Globe and Mail March 28, 2014 The laughs in this film are all mean-spirited or just frat-boy gross.
For his directorial debut, Bateman returns to his bad-boy beginnings. And the results are predictably amusing.
Slant Magazine March 8, 2014 The meager comeuppance and hasty notes of sweetness that end the film feel pre-approved rather than organically realized.
Film.com September 13, 2013 It gets a little repetitive, but it when it works, it works.
The film’s problem is that, despite obvious aspirations to be more than just a profane joke factory, it never fulfills its dramatic ambi...
Sarcastic, sanctimonious, salacious, sly, slight and surprisingly sweet, the black comedy of "Bad Words," starring and directed by Jason Bateman, i...
Toronto Star March 27, 2014 Almost unrelenting in its takedown both of an American institution and the country’s obsession with victories big and small, Bad Words is mor...
What makes the comedy work is that Bateman doesn’t relent. Guy is, simply, a loathsome person.
Variety September 9, 2013 Jason Bateman makes an auspicious directing debut with this exuberantly foul-mouthed and mean-spirited comedy.
In Bad Words, Jason Bateman demonstrates that he is in full control of his onscreen identity: playing characters who express themselves with humoro...
It’s tough to summon sufficiently negative language to describe the unfunny, desperate mess that is Bad Words.
Jason Bateman has described his directorial debut, "Bad Words," as "'Bad Santa' with spelling bees," a comparison so evident in the material that i...
Even when Bad Words is bad in the wrong way, it tends to be bad in the right way, too.
Hollywood Reporter September 15, 2013 A scouringly funny tale of ill-conceived revenge.
Detroit News March 21, 2014 This is twisted, funny stuff.
Boston Globe March 20, 2014 It’s nasty enough, but it isn’t so much funny as it is pathological.
Bad Words announces its high concept immediately and then goes about the business of telling its story without wasting a moment.
The film is at its best when it’s hovering aimlessly without any apparent purpose in the world of this embittered, misanthropic little man.
At heart, Bad Words is a nice little concoction about a fellow walking around with a deep emotional wound, who heals it, not by confronting th...
RogerEbert.com March 14, 2014 Once we understand what’s driving Guy, the revelation is airless: It feels like too little, too late. Now we’re supposed to care about...
deadspin.com March 12, 2014 The problem with "Bad Words" isn’t that it’s mean. It’s that it’s not really mean but tries so hard to think it is.
Add a short review
280 characters