Where to watch
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Streaming data from JustWatch
Bad Words
2013
· Movie
· 89 min
C
MEANRANK
64/100
Where it ranks
- Mean Score #3431
- IMDb #2954
- Google retired #2467
- Rotten Tomatoes #2886
- Metacritic #2944
- Letterboxd #3360
+8 more
- Rotten Tomatoes Critics #2994
- Rotten Tomatoes Audience #3310
- Metacritic Critics #2726
- Metacritic Audience #3189
- Criticker #2126
- Kinopoisk #3589
- AlloCiné #3505
- Trakt #3014
Every rating
45–82
out of 100
A 40-year-old man finds a loophole that allows him to compete in the National Quill Spelling Bee, a competition traditionally for children. Cynical and misanthropic, he ruthlessly crushes his adolescent competitors, attracting the ire of parents and officials. He is followed by a reporter trying to uncover his motive, and he forms an unlikely friendship with a fellow child competitor.
Details
- Director
- Jason Bateman
- Writer
- Andrew Dodge
- Released
- 6 September 2013
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
- Runtime
- 89 min
- Rated
- R
- Budget
- $9.5M
- Box office
- $7.8M