Jason Bateman discussed the making of his directorial debut and his anticipation for the reception of his scandalous character, Guy, during a promotional event in Georgetown.
3/5 stars
It’s not that surprising that Jason Bateman’s directorial debut, “Bad Words,” is a comedy that aims to shock. After all, this is the man who was involved in films such as “Horrible Bosses” and “Identity Thief.” This dark comedy tells the story of a crass 40-year-old man who causes a huge uproar when he enters a spelling bee competition for children. Guy Trilby (Bateman) stands out because, of course, he is an adult competing with a sea of preteens. Although generally rude and repellant of all human contact, Guy makes an unexpected friend in fellow competitor, the young Chaitanya Chopra (Rohan Chand). In a bizarre yet touching fashion, the unconventional pair form a bond as Guy compensates for Chaitanya’s distant parents.
Guy talks too much. He is brash, condescending, vulgar and full of entirely politically incorrect comments. But, he, an eighth-grade dropout, might in fact be a genius. While usually it is hard to hate a character who admits his flaws right away, Guy makes this easier with his ridiculous antics and flair for badgering people. You are never sure if you are rooting for or against him. As petty as Guy’s antics may seem, they are not much more absurd than those of the over-involved parents and officials desperate to remove him from the competition.
At a recent interview held at D.C., Bateman explained his character, Guy, and how he felt about his directorial debut. Initially, Bateman reached out to other actors to play the part of Guy but could not find anyone to take the part. “I like playing people that are flawed. It’s an easy lane to comedy and certainly to drama,” Bateman said.
He spoke of the challenges that came from trying to pull off this particular character, saying: “You can’t have a central character being terribly unlikeable. You have to be able to empathize a little bit with whoever is going through the challenge in the movie plot.”
Every villain has a hidden, gruesome event that messed with his or her psyche enough to make him or her join the dark side. Reporter Jenny (Kathryn Hahn) hopes to uncover why Guy entered the bee in the first place and what drives him to continue, despite the pleas and threats of parents and competition officials. She plays the role of the audience, asking the questions they want answered: Why is he here? The movie remains suspenseful as you wait to understand what deep dark secret Guy has.
Actors and their fans sometimes seem to be at odds. Fans are married to characters while actors don’t want to be put into a box. When asked about whether he thinks he will be able to distance himself from Michael Bluth, the character that he plays in the series “Arrested Development,” Bateman seemed fairly confident that his fans will follow him through his different projects. He claims that he plays “the straight man, a normal person that is meant to be the audience’s proxy, somebody who is very relatable and tangible and would react to these absurd situations the way you would so that it can pop for you as the audience.”
When it comes to an ideal comedy, Bateman believes that some tension is key. “I like things that are close to drama; was that funny or was that not?” He was attracted to the dark humor that “Bad Words” offers, but he admitted that it may not be well-received by everyone. “Some people like things to be a bit clearer, a bit happier, a little bit more comfortable. By all means, this film is not for them,” Bateman warned. The movie is clearly all about risk: The success of the audience’s response is entirely dependent on whether they can empathize with the crude and sometimes offensive central character.
Bateman seems to have made a seamless transition from actor to director of a feature film. “I knew I would love it, but, my God, it is just the greatest job in the world,” he gushed about his directing experience. “I’ve always wanted to direct a film. As an actor, I’ve had a really good seat there in the front row to see how complicated it is to direct a film and wanted to just challenge myself with that,” Bateman said.
The film is evidence to the fact that he clearly knows what he’s doing. Beyond that, listening to him talk, you can tell that he’s well-read, experienced and someone who thinks before he speaks. “Bad Words” is definitely a step out of the ordinary and into the eccentric,
