BAD TEACHER (15)
ONE inspirational man or woman can make a difference... in the classroom.
But Jake Kasdan's foul-mouthed comedy won't be winning a gold star alongside classic school days yarns like Dead Poets Society, Goodbye Mr Chips and Blackboard Jungle.
Bad Teacher witnesses the devastation wrought by a hard-drinking, money-grabbing harlot who is granted an opportunity to mould the impressionable minds of today's alienated youth.
She schemes, plots and blackmails her way to stunning grades, destroying anyone who dares to stand in her path.
It's a morality tale for our fame- and power-driven times: succeed at all costs.
Elizabeth Halsey (Cameron Diaz) is draining her drippy, rich boyfriend dry until he finally dumps her.
So she reluctantly returns to her teaching job at a high school run by Principal Wally Snur (John Michael Higgins).
Rebuffing the advances of oafish PE master Russell Gettis (Jason Segel), Elizabeth sets her sights on handsome new teacher Scott Delacorte (Justin Timberlake), who has an expensive watch on his wrist.
But Scott resists her flirtations and begins a romance with the school's prim and proper teacher, Amy Squirrel (Lucy Punch).
Elizabeth is used to getting her own way and she declares war on Amy.
Bad Teacher is a nice idea poorly executed, underpinned by a script with too few laughs and a central heroine whose selfish escapades leave us without a single drop of sympathy or affection for her.
Punch is more appealing as the victim of Elizabeth's cruelty while Segel and Timberlake vie for their leading lady's affections, the latter poking fun at his Trousersnake tag in the film's obligatory gross-out moment.
STAR RATING: **
