Dove Review

Before the movie started at the screening I went to, two young ladies walked in together and one commented to the other, “My parents are amused that teachers were going to go see ‘Bad Teacher'”. I didn’t learn what their response was to the movie, but I know ours at The Dove Foundation, and it is not a good one. I did like the opening sequence which featured archive footage. The viewer is shown classrooms, teachers and students, the cafeteria and playgrounds from the fifties, sixties and seventies. It’s always interesting to compare the styles of then to the styles of now. The footage even features the Three Stooges in caps and gowns! However, as far as content is concerned…well, I will get to that.

The premise of the movie is that Elizabeth Halsey (Cameron Diaz) is kicked out by her boyfriend (and his mother) after spending $16,000 in one month and apparently only being interested in his money. She also doesn’t realize it is his birthday. She just received a gift card for $37 from the faculty at the middle school where she worked as a going away present to her but now she will have to return for the fall and teach again. She meets a substitute teacher named Scott Delacorte (Justin Timberlake) and is interested in him and she decides to get her breasts enlarged. However, another teacher, Amy Squirrel (Lucy Punch), sets him on her radar and the competition is on.

As far as humor, there are a few good moments. In one scene the gym teacher, who is interested in Elizabeth, tells her “Those banners there weren’t here when I arrived. Yeah, they were on the other side and I moved them!” Despite a few other funny moments in the movie, there are content issues in five out of our six categories! There are explicit sexual comments and a scene in which a couple basically makes love with their clothes on. The language is strong and frequent. Marijuana is smoked and there is a “Weed is awesome!” comment. There are a few other drug use comments. A woman’s bare breasts are seen on screen as is partial rear nudity of a man. And there are breasts exposed in a few magazines as well. This, along with the way Elizabeth treats her students (she tells one girl she is “hopeless”), prevents us from awarding our Dove Seal to the movie as a family-friendly film. Elizabeth becomes a Guidance Counselor at the end. Hopefully they are not setting us up for a sequel. You are allowed to go to recess instead of seeing this movie.

Dove Rating Details

0

Faith

None

0

Integrity

A distracted police officer drives into a car and hits it twice and then drives off; a woman punches a man in the arm and he, due to reflexes, punches her back; a car brakes suddenly and a woman hits her head on the dash board; a teacher hits a student with a basketball and she is hit herself; a motorcycle hits a car.

4

Sex

Explicit sexual comments; passionate kissing; man and woman with hands on each other's clothed rears; a man and woman basically make love with clothes on and afterwards a wet spot is seen on front of man's pants; a comment about cheating; a woman in shorts and bare midriff acts sexy at a car wash to attract customers; a boy with an obvious erection in pants; a man gives a woman money for the car wash and "whatever" (implying sex); condoms are mentioned; slang.

5

Language

GD-4; G/OMG-8; JC-1; F-37 (6 times used sexually); S-11; A-4; D-4; H-2; B-1; "Suck"-1; Slang for male genitalia-4; Slang for female genitalia-1; Slang for breasts-9; "Idiot"-1; "Moron"-1

1

Violence

A distracted police officer drives into a car and hits it twice and then drives off; a woman punches a man in the arm and he, due to reflexes, punches her back; a car brakes suddenly and a woman hits her head on the dash board; a teacher hits a student with a basketball and she is hit herself; a motorcycle hits a car.

4

Drugs

A sex drug knocks out a character; smoking; a teacher smokes marijuana and drives; champagne is consumed; talk of getting high; white wine; a bong is seen; a man is referred to as a casual drug use; there is a "Weed is awesome!" comment; drugs are found in teacher's desk.

3

Nudity

Bare breasts are seen; photos of breasts are seen; a woman's breasts are examined; a side view of a woman's nude rear is seen; short skirt; short shorts; bare midriff; strong cleavage; a woman's lower back and top of panties are briefly seen.

3

Other

A few characters lie; a man says he is pro-choice about everything except for abortion; a teacher sets a horrible example in attitude and behavior; flatulence; a woman goes into a men's restroom; poison ivy is rubbed on an apple and left for a character to eat; a state test is stolen; the topic of bed wetting is mentioned.