July DVD Releases: 4-star, 1 1/2 Star, 2 Star
Posted on June 30, 2014 by bob in DVD
Bad Words (R) 
Starting a title with “Bad” has led to other dark and/or snarky comedies, ending in words like Santa or Teacher. In this one, Jason Bateman directs himself through another amusingly understated performance to fine effect. He plays a 40-year-old drone who finds a loophole in the rules for a hallowed, nationally-televised spelling bee, to compete against the nation’s best middle-school word mavens. His presence angers the promoters and the parents even more than his kiddie competition. We’re kept in the dark about his motive, but he’s obviously trying to settle some type of old score that left significant inner scars. He’s also damned good at spelling, to the consternation of everyone rooting against the taint his mere presence inflicts on the contest.
Bateman’s character is not only an enigma, but something of a jerk, as he resorts to some hilariously fiendish tactics to psych out a few young scholars he considers the most serious rivals. The acerbic wit of Andrew Dodge’s screenplay is especially praiseworthy for a feature debut. The same can be said (or written) for Bateman’s first time behind the cameras. A few scenes stray into cringe-inducement, partly in pursuit of physical energy to offset the staid milieu of spellers sitting on platforms awaiting their turns at the microphone. But the overall production is well-paced and highly entertaining. If you improve your vocabulary or spelling a bit while you’re at it, the perk is included in the ticket price.
The Face of Love (PG-13) 
Admittedly, I’m not part of the target demographic for romantic dramas among the AARP set, despite having reached that age range. But I still think I can spot a dud, even when it’s not in my wheelhouse. Annette Bening has been joyfully married to architect Ed Harris for 30 years. While vacationing in Mexico, he drowns. Five years later, she’s moping around in the lovely home he’d designed for them, finding partial solace in her grown daughter and the solicitous widower across the street (Robin Williams). The two couples had always been close. Williams silently yearns for something beyond platonic to emerge from their shared losses. She’s still mourning her lost love too much to get enthusiastic about anything.
One day Bening sees her late hubby’s apparent Doppelganger (also Harris), who turns out to be a painter and art professor. She essentially stalks the guy until they start dating. He’s been divorced for a decade and falls hard for her. But as Bening spends months doing all she can to keep him in the dark about why she pursued him, the relationship grows ever more creepy. Harris #2 is an incredibly nice fellow who deserves the truth about why she’s always looked at him so lovingly from the get-go. We’re not sure of the extent to which she’s depressed from prolonged grief, delusional, or even dangerous.
At times the film feels as if a Brian de Palma is setting us up for something tragic, along with the suspense element of whether and how new Ed will discover her motives, and how he’ll react to it. The brooding tale drags annoyingly, seeming much longer than its 92 minutes, as Bening’s prolonged deception makes her ever less sympathetic. The ending rings false and forced, as if someone decided in mid-production which way they wanted to end it, all preceding content notwithstanding.
The best news may be that Harris, after earning an Oscar nomination for his compelling portrayal of artist Jackson Pollock in 2000, has now learned how to pretend to paint actual objects! Hone that craft, dude, but don’t forget to aim for scripts that deserve your talents.
Sabotage (R)
Arnold Schwarzenegger gamely slogs his way through in this attempt at an action flick, playing the head of a special DEA undercover team that also does the SWAT thing when they feel like it. After a big bust in which $10M of cartel drug money vanishes, Ahnuld and his squad are all suspended for six months of investigation. Even though the money is still missing and no one’s cleared from suspicion, the honchos decide to reinstate the crew. Just when they have a reason to celebrate, someone starts knocking them off in variably grotesque manners.
Could it be retaliation by the drug lords? Is there a thieving rat among their seemingly tight-knit ranks? Were they set up by someone else who lusted for the money and/or other motivating factors?
The action sequences and other gory bits are generally satisfactory for splatter fans. But the screenplay is awful; the characters are poorly conceived variations on all the standard stereotypes. The who and why of where the money went may have been chosen by throwing darts at a board of possible endings – missing several better options. Ahnuld isn’t necessarily too old for the genre. But maybe he shouldn’t be trusted with script selection. I would worry that this role is a sign of career dementia, but many of his earlier choices like Red Sonja or Junior, indicate that was never a big part of his skill set.
Mark Glass is an officer and director of the St. Louis Film Critics Association.
