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The first trailer for Jason Bateman‘s directorial debut Bad Words has appeared online.
In the raunchy comedy, Bateman stars as a grown man who uses a loophole (the fact that he, like the kids, hasn’t passed the eighth grade) to compete in spelling bees.
But his foul-mouthed character doesn’t seem to know how to spell nice, as the trailer shows him regularly bullying his young competitors.
When an overweight kid asks, “What are you doing up on the stage weirdo?” Bateman’s character responds, “Your chair called me for help. It was like ‘Help me, it’s so heavy.’ ”
He also meets a young boy (Lone Survivor‘s Rohan Chand) on a plane, whom he ends up bonding with, even showing the kid a hooker’s breasts.
But the two get off to a rough start, with Bateman responding to the child’s incessant questions by saying, “If you don’t point your curry hole that way and sit your f—ing ass down in your f—ing seat, I’m going to tell the captain that your bag’s ticking.”
Bateman’s character’s defiance also extends to parents who want him out of the competition and a reporter (Kathryn Hahn) who wonders why he insists on competing.
Bad Words debuted at the Toronto Film Festival, where it was quickly snapped up by Focus Features and Universal for more than $7 million. Despite Focus’ executive shake-up shortly after acquiring the title, it still plans to release the film in the U.S. on March 21.
Andrew Dodge wrote the Black List screenplay for the film, which also stars Allison Janney and Beth Grant.
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