# Bad Words (film)
**Bad Words** is a 2014 American dark comedy directed by [Jason Bateman](https://www.edgepedia.org/jason-bateman), who makes his feature directorial debut and stars as Guy Trilby, a 40-year-old misanthrope who exploits a loophole in the rules of the Golden Quill national spelling bee to compete against children.[1](https://www.focusfeatures.com/bad_words) The screenplay by first-time writer Andrew Dodge reached the 2011 Black List, the industry survey of the best unproduced spec scripts voted on by Hollywood executives, and the film premiered at the 2013 [Toronto International Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/toronto-international-film-festival) before [Focus Features](https://www.edgepedia.org/focus-features) released it theatrically in March 2014.[2](https://scriptmag.com/features/sxsw-bad-words-scribe-andrew-dodge-forgoes-structure-laughs-feature-debut) • [3](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-tiff-2013-jason-bateman-bad-words-20130907-story.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / star | Jason Bateman's feature directorial debut; he also stars and produces[1](https://www.focusfeatures.com/bad_words) |
| Screenwriter | Andrew Dodge; his first produced screenplay, on the 2011 Black List[2](https://scriptmag.com/features/sxsw-bad-words-scribe-andrew-dodge-forgoes-structure-laughs-feature-debut) |
| Premise | 40-year-old Guy Trilby enters the Golden Quill national spelling bee through a rules loophole and hijacks the competition[1](https://www.focusfeatures.com/bad_words) |
| Principal cast | Jason Bateman, Kathryn Hahn, Rohan Chand, Philip Baker Hall, Allison Janney, Ben Falcone[1](https://www.focusfeatures.com/bad_words) |
| Premiere / release | World premiere at TIFF on September 6, 2013; US limited release March 14, 2014 in 6 theaters, wide expansion March 28[3](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-tiff-2013-jason-bateman-bad-words-20130907-story.html) • [4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl1128629761/) |
| Rating / runtime | R; 1 hr 29 min[4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl1128629761/) |
| Box office | $7,779,614 domestic; $7,843,145 worldwide, against a production budget of less than $10 million[5](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Bad-Words) • [6](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-bad-words-jason-bateman-box-office-track-record-20140314-story.html) |
| Critical scores | Metascore 57 from 36 reviews; 66% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer[7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2170299/criticreviews/) • [8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m//bad_words) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and premise
Guy Trilby, a 40-year-old high school dropout, qualifies for the Golden Quill national spelling bee through a loophole in its rules and proceeds to eliminate the child competitors with insults and psychological tactics.[1](https://www.focusfeatures.com/bad_words) • [9](https://toronto.citynews.ca/?p=3401464) A reporter, Jenny Widgeon ([Kathryn Hahn](https://www.edgepedia.org/kathryn-hahn)), whose online blog sponsored Guy's entry, follows him hoping to learn his motive, which remains a mystery until it is revealed late in the story as part of a revenge plot.[10](https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/bad-words-movie-review-jason-bateman-gets-mean/2014/03/19/cf4913ce-af70-11e3-9627-c65021d6d572_story.html) • [11](https://time.com/22994/jason-batemans-dry-spell/) Along the way Guy forms an unlikely alliance with Chaitanya Chopra (Rohan Chand), a 10-year-old competitor who is unfazed by Guy's behavior, and their relationship becomes the emotional center of the film.[1](https://www.focusfeatures.com/bad_words) • [12](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-bad-words-review-20140314-story.html) Contest officials, played by [Philip Baker Hall](https://www.edgepedia.org/philip-baker-hall) as the bee's founder Dr. Bowman and [Allison Janney](https://www.edgepedia.org/allison-janney) as administrator Dr. Bernice Deagan, try to remove him from the competition.[11](https://time.com/22994/jason-batemans-dry-spell/)
Reviewers noted how far the character goes: Guy tells one boy he had sex with the boy's mother and tells a girl that menstrual blood is showing through her skirt, tactics one critic described as amounting to emotional child abuse.[11](https://time.com/22994/jason-batemans-dry-spell/) The film's motive for Guy is not explained in an opening voice-over, but is revealed much later: he wants revenge on his estranged father, Dr. Bowman, the bee's founder, who abandoned him.[13](https://thetartan-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/edition/pdf/297/tartan_web_02_03_2014.pdf) • [21](https://www.thewrap.com/bad-words-review-jason-batemans-directorial-debut-exhilarates-grates/)
## Origin of the screenplay
**Andrew Dodge** spent more than 15 years at [Columbia Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/columbia-pictures), starting as an intern in the story department and working his way up to reading and administering scripts, before writing his own.[14](https://www.lafilm.edu/blog/event-recap-bad-words-screening-and-qa/) He has said the idea came together while watching the 2002 documentary *[Spellbound](https://www.edgepedia.org/spellbound-2002-film)* about the National Spelling Bee, combined with memories of his own school debate-team experience and a trophy from it; he wanted the adult-in-a-kids'-bee premise to have a specific, meaningful motivation rather than play broadly.[15](https://www.themovieblog.com/2014/03/jason-bateman-kathryn-hahn-and-andrew-dodge-discuss-bad-words/) A conversation with his own children about a California "Don't Swear Day" inspired the dialogue between Guy and Chaitanya about foul language.[15](https://www.themovieblog.com/2014/03/jason-bateman-kathryn-hahn-and-andrew-dodge-discuss-bad-words/)
After the script landed on the 2011 Black List, Jason Bateman, who has said his acting career was meant to facilitate a transition into directing, attached himself to direct and star.[2](https://scriptmag.com/features/sxsw-bad-words-scribe-andrew-dodge-forgoes-structure-laughs-feature-debut) • [16](https://cinema.usc.edu/news/article.cfm?id=14136) Darko Entertainment financed the film, produced by Bateman, Mason Novick, Sean McKittrick, and Jeff Culotta, and it shot entirely on location in Los Angeles.[17](https://www.screendaily.com/production/jason-bateman-to-make-directorial-debut-on-bad-words/5048597.article) • [1](https://www.focusfeatures.com/bad_words) Dodge was named one of Variety's "10 Screenwriters to Watch" in 2013.[2](https://scriptmag.com/features/sxsw-bad-words-scribe-andrew-dodge-forgoes-structure-laughs-feature-debut)
## Release and reception
*Bad Words* world-premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 6, 2013, and Focus Features acquired worldwide rights the following day, planning a 2014 release.[3](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-tiff-2013-jason-bateman-bad-words-20130907-story.html) • [18](https://www.thewrap.com/toronto-jason-bateman-directorial-debut-bad-words-spells-worldwide-deal-with-focus/) It opened in six theaters on March 14, 2014, grossing $113,301 in its first weekend, then expanded to 842 theaters on March 28 and peaked at 1,074 theaters.[4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl1128629761/) Total domestic gross was $7,779,614, with only $63,531 internationally, for a worldwide total of $7,843,145.[5](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Bad-Words)
Critical response was mixed to positive. The film scored 57 on Metacritic from 36 reviews and held a 66% Tomatometer rating, with the site's critics consensus calling it "scabrously funny and gleefully amoral" and crediting Bateman with one of his best performances.[7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2170299/criticreviews/) • [8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m//bad_words) Reviewers frequently compared it to *Bad Santa* and other R-rated comedies pairing a foul-mouthed adult with a child; some, such as Owen Gleiberman in [Entertainment Weekly](https://www.edgepedia.org/entertainment-weekly), praised the balance between misanthropy and humanity, while others, including Christy Lemire at RogerEbert.com, found the shock tactics repetitive and the late revelation of Guy's motive airless.[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m//bad_words) • [19](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/bad-words-2014) Common Sense Media rated it appropriate for ages 17 and up, citing pervasive crude language, sexual content, and Guy's verbal cruelty toward children.[20](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/bad-words)
## References
1. [Bad Words, Focus Features official film page](https://www.focusfeatures.com/bad_words)
2. [SXSW: 'Bad Words' Scribe Andrew Dodge Forgoes Structure for Laughs in Feature Debut, Script Magazine](https://scriptmag.com/features/sxsw-bad-words-scribe-andrew-dodge-forgoes-structure-laughs-feature-debut)
3. [TIFF 2013: With 'Bad Words,' Jason Bateman starts a new chapter, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-tiff-2013-jason-bateman-bad-words-20130907-story.html)
4. [Bad Words, Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl1128629761/)
5. [Bad Words (2014) Box Office and Financial Information, The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Bad-Words)
6. [As 'Bad Words' opens, a look at Jason Bateman's box office record, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-bad-words-jason-bateman-box-office-track-record-20140314-story.html)
7. [Bad Words (2013) Metacritic reviews, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2170299/criticreviews/)
8. [Bad Words, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m//bad_words)
9. [Bateman finds delicate comic balance in directorial debut 'Bad Words', CityNews Toronto](https://toronto.citynews.ca/?p=3401464)
10. ['Bad Words' movie review: Jason Bateman gets mean, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/bad-words-movie-review-jason-bateman-gets-mean/2014/03/19/cf4913ce-af70-11e3-9627-c65021d6d572_story.html)
11. [Jason Bateman's Dry Spell, TIME](https://time.com/22994/jason-batemans-dry-spell/)
12. [Dark humor, sarcasm and biting comedy punctuate 'Bad Words', Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-bad-words-review-20140314-story.html)
13. [Bad Words lives up to its name, The Tartan](https://thetartan-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/edition/pdf/297/tartan_web_02_03_2014.pdf)
14. [Bad Words Starring Jason Bateman Screening and Q&A, The Los Angeles Film School](https://www.lafilm.edu/blog/event-recap-bad-words-screening-and-qa/)
15. [Jason Bateman, Kathryn Hahn and Andrew Dodge Discuss BAD WORDS, The Movie Blog](https://www.themovieblog.com/2014/03/jason-bateman-kathryn-hahn-and-andrew-dodge-discuss-bad-words/)
16. [Bad Words is actor Jason Bateman's directorial debut, USC Cinematic Arts News](https://cinema.usc.edu/news/article.cfm?id=14136)
17. [Jason Bateman to make directorial debut on Bad Words, Screen Daily](https://www.screendaily.com/production/jason-bateman-to-make-directorial-debut-on-bad-words/5048597.article)
18. [Toronto: Jason Bateman Directorial Debut 'Bad Words' Spells Worldwide Deal With Focus, TheWrap](https://www.thewrap.com/toronto-jason-bateman-directorial-debut-bad-words-spells-worldwide-deal-with-focus/)
19. [Bad Words movie review & film summary, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/bad-words-2014)
20. [Bad Words Parents' Guide & Movie Review, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/bad-words)
21. [Bad Words Review Jason Batemans Directorial Debut Exhilarates Grates, thewrap.com](https://www.thewrap.com/bad-words-review-jason-batemans-directorial-debut-exhilarates-grates/)
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