Bad Teacher

What a pleasant surprise it was to go into a film I thought was going to be crap only to find out it was pretty good. Just as well, the last good comedy I saw was way back in April with Paul and it's about time there was another.
Bad Teacher is directed by Jake Kasdan who directed Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story and a super cool flick that I haven't seen for years (I lost my VHS copy) called Zero Effect. If you can find it, watch it. Screenwriters Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg both write for the US version of The Office and are both writing Ghostbusters III... no pressure guys!
Pot-smoking, socially-challenged Liz Halsey (Cameron Diaz - The Green Hornet) has been dumped by her rich boyfriend and is forced to give up dreams of leaving her job forever. She's a teacher, and she sucks at it.
Financial bliss comes to John Adams Middle School (JAMS) in the form of substitute teacher Scott Delacort (Justin Timberlake - The Social Network). Scott has just broken up with his busty girlfriend so Liz decides to get herself some breast implants hoping that he will like her. Unfortunately, she's broke and needs to find a way to raise $10,000 for the operation.
Scott, however, has the hots for Liz's ample-breasted, across-the-hall-mate Amy Squirrel (Lucy Punch - Hot Fuzz), who is both very enthusiastic and  highly neurotic... a troublesome mix. Amy isn't going to give up Scott without a fight.
Someone who does have the hots for Liz just the way she is, is gym teacher Russell (Jason Segel - Forgetting Sarah Marshall). He's like the Terminator, and never stops asking Liz out for a date.
Liz is a really shit teacher but soon learns she has to turn things around in order to achieve her goals and actually helps a few kids out along the way.
Will she end up with the back-up singer from the hit teacher band Period Five or will someone else get her attention?
As I said in the beginning, I was really surprised with this flick. I expected the worst and found myself laughing all the way through. Genuine funny stuff too. I wish I was a teacher so I could throw basket balls at kids' faces, all in the name of learning, of course.
Diaz does a good job as the embittered teacher and plays well off her other cast members, especially Punch, Segel and Principal Snur (John Michael Higgins - Best in Show)(I love that guy!). Punch, a native Brit did a good job with an American accent but I can't help but wonder if that was really necessary? There are people from other countries who move to other countries and still sound like how they did when they were in the original country... Though I guess if Nicolas Cage can keep his US accent in Season of the Witch, which was set in a time way before the US was even a twinkle in the milkman's eye then...
I do wish we found out what happened to Amy in 2008...
The soundtrack was pretty good with a throwback to Dangerous Minds and a few other school-based flicks.
I can't wait to see Jason Segel in the new Muppet movie!
Things I learnt: don't eat that apple; never trust a lady wearing an Annie wig; kids, your poetry sucks.
Funny stuff
Seven out of ten.