Bad Education (Cory Finley)

[Peng]

[Peng]

The banality of compartmentalized evil. The film mines considerable dramatic tension (and some black comedy) from its psychological insight about embracing small, seemingly justified compromises until they develop uncontrollably into your whole being. That grey area of compartmentalizing between truly caring for others, and also exploiting them by projecting that ethos, is grippingly illustrated by Hugh Jackman in a career-best performance. Jackman always has two acting modes that come easiest to him, and here he channels the rugged intensity (as seen in X-Men films and Prisoners) tightly behind his easy-going star charisma, showing the character's drive to charm and grin his way through the crumbling house of cards around him, in part because he truly believes he has done nothing wrong. It's a remarkable balancing act of a performance that almost becomes the whole show, with director Cory Finley scaling back the stylistic touches of his debut Thoroughbreds to cede the spotlight to his star. The film is still thick with the same finely tuned, almost oppressive atmosphere though, with Finley employing a few sinuous cameraworks to show more than one characters finally reaching the end of their slippery slopes. 7.5/10

[Irish]

Yay but with reservations. Entertaining but superficial movie, a sorta high-gloss tv movie of the week.

Jackman is good but I dunno if he deserves heavy applause for actually turning up in a dramatic role for once and doing the job.

[Mal]

If I dislike Alison Janney, should I stay away?

[Irish]

She's a heavy presence for the first half-hour, maybe? and then virtually disappears from the story

[Mal]

She's a heavy presence for the first half-hour, maybe? and then virtually disappears from the story

Sold.

[Mal]

I did not like this. Jackman is trying way too hard to make up for the scripts shortcomings (the couple moments in the office with the mother and bookkeeper were painful). He needs to go back to playing a superhero or do another Kate and Leopold movie. Anything not of this earth. Janney was actually okay in this for me, her being under pressure with her family were some of the scenes that were conceived well, but then she disappeared and the film dragged into two hours of something that could have been 90ish minutes. A better balance of the individual superintendents and the school paper investigation would have helped this.
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Show Spoiler

best scene in the movie by leaps and bounds was when everyone shut up and we just had a moment in a bar with Moby playing while Jackman’s attempted loosening up.

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[Stay Puft]

A mild nay, I guess. It's superficially compelling and does a decent job exploring some of the facets of the real story, but the shape of it all is just so familiar, its emotional beats lacking impact. Agreed with Irish that it ultimately feels high-gloss and movie-of-the-week. What did I get out of having this story dramatized as a film? It did make me want to listen to Dido afterwards (hey, I forgot David Boreanaz was in this music video), but I'll probably forget I even watched this when I wake up tomorrow (while still randomly humming a Dido song in my head, I'm sure).