Bad Teacher Review

It’s a surprise, in some ways, that it’s taken so long for a film to obviously trade on the success of Bad Santa. Right off the bat, it’s clear that Bad Teacher is no Bad Santa – it’s too broad for that, while the character stuff is not quite as developed as Terry Zwigoff’s classic – although it is very funny in parts. As a venal, greedy, vulgar teacher only in it to make enough money for a new pair of boobs (and who, pleasingly, doesn’t go through a complete 180-degree personality change), Cameron Diaz is fearless, even taking part in the year’s funniest sex scene... with her real-life ex, Justin Timberlake. It’s patchy and sometimes obsessed with quirk, but it’s good fun throughout, and Lucy Punch walks away with an A+ as the too-good-to-be-true villain of the piece. Can’t wait for Bad Gynecologist.