Written by Mike Makowsky
Directed by Cory Finley
Starring Hugh Jackman, Allison Janney and Ray Romano
Rated: TV-MA
Running time: 1 hour and 43 minutes

by Benjamin Leonard, Best Boy

Admittedly, I watched this movie back in September when it premiered at TIFF and haven’t seen it since. So, I’m not gonna be able to give you a comprehensive list of all the reasons why you should check this out this weekend. (It premieres on HBO 4/25/20 at 8PM.) But I CAN tell you that it made enough of a lasting impression that I’m still excited that people are finally gonna get to watch it after all these months.

Bad Education is based on the true story of a well-to-do Long Island public school district getting massively ripped off via multiple levels of embezzlement. Truthfully, this is the kind of story that I would normally think is a big snooze. Does it piss me off that people squander and steal tax money? EVERY GOD-DAMNED DAY! Which is kinda why I normally wouldn’t wanna watch this. I’m already worked up about it. Do I feel bad for the community that it happened to? In this case, not really. These are ridiculously wealthy people that are dumping a ton of money into their public school system, which is performing VERY well, and keeping it all within their little ZIP code. It’s not like this is the Philadelphia Public School System which is totally broken and dying for any penny it can get. These people are getting a good product for their money and treating the people getting those results like crap.

However, what drew me in was Cory Finley directing. I really enjoyed his first feature, Thoroughbreds, and was committed to watching whatever he followed it up with. On top of that, I’m game to try ALMOST anything Hugh Jackman is doing and Allison Janney is generally superb. And gang, it paid off. 

On top of their contributions, it was written (by Mike Makowsky) in a way that made it interesting, even to someone like me that was predisposed to be uninterested. The supporting cast was strong. I enjoy Rafael Casal and Alex Wolff, but Ray Romano has turned in a couple of supporting roles in the last couple years that I’ve enjoyed as well.

This IS a story that throws a lot at you from different angles. Many times, this can end up getting unnecessarily convoluted but, for the most part, it works well here. We end up seeing the story from many different angles before it’s all pieced together so that we understand the entirety of the story. In general, it’s a drama/exposé, but there is a considerable amount of whodunnit and howdunnit along with some humor as well. For me, there is only one story line that really kinda drags it down. But this is based on a true, so maybe there were other facts tied up in it that made that part feel more essential when written. 

This was one of the films I was anticipating most at TIFF, and it delivered. While not as great as Varda by Agnès or The Lighthouse, this was on par with Jojo Rabbit and Blood Quantum, all of which I saw at TIFF as well. Bad Education  is well worth checking out. If you enjoy it, and haven’t seen Thoroughbreds, check that out too. It’s currently available on a number of services.

[side note: Hopefully I’ll get a chance to write something about Blood Quantum in the next week. If not, just know that it’s a good ole zombie movie with an appropriate amount of social commentary and it’s coming to iTunes, and maybe other places on April 28th.]

Watch Bad Education on HBO starting tomorrow at 8pm.