Bad Words (film)
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Jason Bateman |
| Produced by |
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| Written by | Andrew Dodge |
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| Music by | Rolfe Kent |
| Cinematography | Ken Seng |
| Edited by | Tatiana S. Riegel |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Focus Features |
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Release date
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Running time
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88 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $10 million |
| Box office | $7.8 million |
Bad Words is a 2013 American black comedy film directed by Jason Bateman and written by Andrew Dodge. Marking Bateman's directorial debut, the film stars Bateman as a middle-aged eighth grade dropout who enters the National Golden Quill Spelling Bee through a loophole. It also stars Kathryn Hahn, Rohan Chand, Ben Falcone, Philip Baker Hall, Allison Janney and Anjul Nigam.
Dodge's screenplay for Bad Words was featured on the 2011 Black List and was shortly thereafter picked up by Bateman. In the original script, the story was set at the Scripps National Spelling Bee, but the name was changed to a fictional bee since the filmmakers did not expect Scripps to allow the use of their name in the film. After two other actors declined to play the main character, Bateman decided to take on the role himself, and cast the other roles by a combination of contacting friends and open casting calls. Filming took place in Los Angeles at the end of 2012.
The film premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival on September 6, 2013, and had a limited release in the United States on March 14, 2014, expanding to a wide release on March 28. Produced for $10 million, it earned $7.8 million at the theatrical box office. It received mixed to positive reviews from critics: some enjoyed the humor and direction, while others found the main character unlikeable and the humor offensive.
Forty-year-old Guy Trilby discovers a loophole in the Golden Quill Spelling Bee which stipulates that participants must have not graduated from the eighth grade, allowing him to enter since he dropped out of middle school. He attends and wins a regional spelling bee, and progresses to the national competition after confrontations with both the parents of children and the spelling bee hosts. He is accompanied by Jenny Widgeon, a relatively unknown journalist hoping to make a story out of his participation in the bee. On the flight to the national spelling bee, Guy meets Chaitanya Chopra, a 10-year-old entrant in the bee who persistently attempts to befriend Guy. Upon his arrival in Los Angeles, Guy meets the director of the spelling bee, Dr. Bernice Deagan, who expresses anger at his participation in the bee and places him and his reporter in a cheap hotel. Guy learns that Chaitanya is staying in the same hotel, and takes him out one night to expose Chaitanya to the wilder side of life: stealing food, drinking, and hiring a prostitute to briefly "flash" Chaitanya.
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