There's Nothing about Mary

Rating: Null/10 (3 November 2011)

Love lowbrow comedies and this cast, but wow, this is the worst new release in years.
Time stood still in the first half. After what seemed ages, I hit pause to see how much more of this I'd have to sit through, and was astounded to find I was only 40 minutes in.
The story is so far beneath the abilities of its cast, I can't imagine why they signed up for it.
The resolution is particularly vile, and totally not funny: the supposed protagonist, a shiftless gold-digger, commits various felonies from fraud to drugs to theft, then escapes consequences by blackmailing the standardized testing board and by framing an honest, highly motivated fellow teacher, who is jailed, then banished from the school. Isn't that hilarious?
Often the most morally bankrupt films are made by people who grew up inside the film industry. This is no exception. Jake Kasdan, son of the very talented Lawrence Kasdan (screenwriter of Raiders of the Lost Ark and many others), directed this washout, and so bears responsibility for its many failings.