Not sure if this movie is a sequel to Bad Santa but it’s in the same league as that movie. Cameron Diaz plays Elizabeth Halsey a teacher who hates her job. She was doing it at first to make herself look good for fiances family, problem is when he ends the engagement she’s stuck with the job. From there she finds a substitute, Scott Delacorte played by Justin Timberlake who is a trust fund baby. Seeing a picture of his ex-girl friend she decides she needs about ten grand to get new boobs. From there things get crazy as she figures out ways to make the cash.

The thing is this movie is actually very tame, as a teacher she’s just lazy, she doesn’t really deal with the students at all. The worst thing she does to them is make them watch movies every day one of those films being the first Scream film which got a laugh out of me. Who she treats horribly is another teacher named Amy Squirrel played by the amazing Lucy Punch. The things she does to that woman are really bad. This is kind of a good thing, her lazy attitude in the first half of the film is hilarious. The film is also pretty great since her character never backs down from what she is established as. She never really learns her lesson and goes through the common beats that characters is these movies go through. That for me was a breath of fresh air.

What really helps this film is its cast, Diaz is frankly amazing in this movie. Without her the film wouldn’t be half as good as it was. Justin Timberlake is not afraid to take roles where he comes off looking like a douche. Here his character is just totally off base and has one of the worst sex scenes you’ll ever see, since it’s not really a sex scene. Lucy Punch is just a talent when it comes to comedy. We also get Jason Segel at his best here, he gets to play a common man crushing on a girl out of his league. He really shines in this movie where he gets to play laid back and just naturally funny.

Now I know this might sound like I fell in love with this movie. The cast is the best thing about this film. Bed Teacher is just off balance, scenes are mashed together and it has no real comedic flow. The first twenty minutes are really strong. Then the film started losing control and the editing became a mess. The plot stalls half way through where it should have advanced it keeps the same beat and never goes on. It’s a let down that a movie that starts so strong looses steam at the half way point. Still the cast is so strong and funny this film is worth a look.

Rating: 7/10