***SPOILER ALERT***
Plot: C
Starts off with Elizabeth Hasley (Cameron Diaz) getting dumped by her rich fiancé (and his mother), so she could no longer be a gold digger, which meant she had to go back to teaching. She decides to get breast implants to impress the new (rich) substitute teacher Scott Delacorte (Justin Timberlake).
The plot was a bit shaky and there were a few times in which something was brought up, but never to be mentioned again (the ‘tutoring’ she offered), or it was unnecessary completely (the car wash because she didn’t take the money). Was the dry humping really necessary to move the plot forward? How that actually came to be wasn’t explained as well. So Scott is okay with cheating on his girlfriend only because she’s not there? Other than the voicemail that Amy Squirrel (Elizabeth’s rival and Scott’s girlfriend) got which made her more frantic, there was no point.
At first it was funny that she was showing school-related movies in her class, then it quickly became redundant. Throwing balls at students because they got the wrong answer was funny in theory, but in reality it was pretty brutal.
I had no idea this movie was rated R. It was more vulgar than I expected, but for pure entertainment value it was funny. With that being said, it was highly unrealistic; I would sure hope that there aren’t teachers that swear, drink, smoke marijuana, and practically abuse the students. I can’t understand how Elizabeth became a teacher in the first place.
Script: B-
Although I did enjoy the script, I think it was written to appeal to a certain audience. Here are some of the conversations/lines I really liked:
Elizabeth Halsey: Okay, fine! I’ll sign the pre-nup.
Mark: It’s over, Elizabeth.
Elizabeth Halsey: Mark, I'm pregnant!
Mark: No, you’re not.
Mrs. Pubich: Bullshit!
Elizabeth Halsey: Okay, fine. I'm not actually pregnant.
Elizabeth: I really love helping bums.
Shawn: LeBron is a better rebounder and passer.
Russell: LeBron will never beat Jordan. Call me when LeBron has six championships.
Shawn: That's your only argument?
Russell: It's the only argument I need Shawn!
Elizabeth: Want to get a bite to eat?
Lynn: Ya, my treat.
Elizabeth: No. Last time you got it. We’ll split it!
Acting: A-
I would like to start off by saying that if Justin Timberlake wasn’t in this movie, my rating for this category would have been higher. His ‘acting’ seems to be going downhill fast! I just don’t think he can play the role of a ‘geek’ (even his role in Friends With Benefits was a bit on the nerdy side, and he just can’t pull it off). I was wondering how long the school needed a substitute teacher for anyways. Cameron Diaz is a great actress and I think she played her role very well. Her character isn’t one I’d ‘root for’ considering she has zero morals, but she played the part well. Jason Segel is a great actor. I think acting comes naturally to him, especially in comedies. He played his gym teacher character (Russell Gettis) very well.
I really liked Phyllis Smith’s character Lynn Davis; I thought her character was funny and that she deserved more screen time. Her awkwardness was so funny to watch and she said her lines perfectly. Elizabeth’s roommate Kirk was pretty funny too. I loved his scene in which he confronted Carl Halabi with the pictures (with ‘Carl Halabi’ written on his left hand and ‘invelope’ written on this right). However, when Carl had to make a statement in front of Elizabeth, Amy, the principal and the superintendent, the only thought going through my mind was ‘how convenient’ rather than ‘how clever’ in regards to the pictures being used to blackmail him.
Overall: B-
After reading several reviews on IMDB I do agree that this movie has many faults. I did find it funny, but I don’t think it was timeless funny. There was a lot of crude humor, at times funny, others, not so much. I cannot justify giving it a higher rating.
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