…abound in this quirky film filled with quirky characters. Jason Bateman expends a ton of effort on playing a misanthrope and does it well. You have no clue as to why he’s entering these middle-school spelling bees. He’s softened by his relationship with an Indian kid who’s a fellow contestant. The film has its funny moments (the humor often has a rough edge – there’s a reason for the R rating – “Don’t look at me!”), but then it becomes a revenge flick. If you like dark humor, you’ll like this a lot.

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