C Bad Teacher

Rating: 6/10 (17 October 2011)

The summer comedy, Bad Teacher, is filled with jokes – an number of which don't quite work, but when the film works, it gets some big laughs from the audience. Elizabeth Halsey, played by Cameron Diaz, is not a reluctant educator who wakes up to her gifts over the course of the film – she's selfish, stupid, and completely superficial. Her only goal in life is to get a boob job so she can attract a rich, attractive man – and if she needs to "teach" to earn the money, so be it.
Although I generally don't care for Cameron Diaz, she does a fairly decent job in this role – her comedic timing is excellent, and she doesn't get too absorbed in the paper-thin plot to take the edge off of her character.
The script by Gene Stupnitsky & Lee Eisenberg is decent overall, but it didn't have a strong resolution – substantially weakening the movie. Fortunately, the large and talented cast including Lucy Punch, Jason Segel, Phyllis Smith, John Michael Higgins, and Dave "Gruber" Allen hold the shaky script together. All of them make the best of the material provided to them and Justin Timberlake delivers a shockingly impressive comedic performance.
When everything is taken into account, Bad Teacher has strong acting and some great jokes, but the failed jokes and weak plot make it an average movie. It's entertaining, but not quite worth the ticket price, so it earns a "C."