Bad Education

This is a film no one wants to watch, just by looking at the premise. But I was keen when I saw Hugh Jackman was involved as the lead. And from the first scene of the movie, you can tell it is going to be a good movie based on his character. Alison Janney is a pleasure to watch in this film as well. The movie is carried on the shoulders of these two accomplished actors and they make the sleazy embezzlement affair enjoyable to watch.

A school board discovers that one of its administrative staff has defrauded the school out of about $250,000. They have the staff member pay back the money, resign and leave it at that. Without knowing this, a journalist on the school newspaper starts investigating the school's finances and discovers that the issue may be bigger than what they school realises.

Highly interesting and entertaining film based on a true story. Very well told story. The extent of the issue is not revealed at the outset, so you get to discover it as the investigators do. The writer and director play their cards close to their chests, bleeding in the information, making for quite compelling viewing.

Great work by Hugh Jackman in the lead role. The character required an actor of great charm, charisma and presence, making Jackman perfect for the role. Good support from Alison Janney, Geraldine Viswanathan and Ray Romano.

Great film.

...but adding an overbearingly loud satirical score, doesn't make this a satirical dark comedy. For that matter, where was the comedy?

This film would've showed better and captivated the audience by making it a drama, with a proper score, faster pacing, with elevated personalities and dialogue, instead of drab and monotonic characters. Jackman and Janney were the only reason I didn't fall asleep, and their outstanding performances is the majority of my rating. Poor judgement on the screenplay's genre choice, but decent directing and cinematography. A generous 7/10 from me.

I was uninterested in watching this movie, but thought I would give it a shot given that it's based on a true story. Allison Janney is amazing, Hugh Jackman delivers a great performance, Geraldine Viswanathan is stellar (as always), but the entire cast is great (truly). From the beginning the film tells the story in captivating and compelling ways. The momentum builds over the course of the hundred minutes. Edge of your seat storytelling. This could have been made into a miniseries. It's just that good. Do yourself a favor and see it.

Great cast, great story, strong creative script. Interesting story of corruption of surprisingly large scale in underfunded education field. Nice work on showing many sides of main characters. Unlike most of movies that keep everything black and white. Allison Janney killed it again. one problem tho: they could focus more on ordinary teachers that lead poor lives. How that was a major spit in their faces.