I can only imagine that everyone involved in Bad Santa will be at least a little bit bummed out after this trailer for Bad Teacher. As the trailer started, maybe they just mused, "Hey, that Jake Kasdan guy made a movie with people cussing and doing drugs around kids, except it stars Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake and it doesn't look as funny. Interesting. I wonder what they decided to call it?" Then, the title screen flashes, and that's when they realize that someone actually stole their title page and logline and changed the word "Santa" to "Teacher."
I bring the Bad Santa team up because I honestly wish that someone had recast this film and put it out as a sequel. Imagine Billy Bob Thornton reprising his role as a misanthropic alcoholic, only this time he's wreaking havoc at an elementary school...and he wants to seduce a clean-cut substitute Justin Timberlake just to get to his money. Comic gold!
Anyway, this is more or less the plot of the non-Bad Santa sequel, except instead of Thornton, Diaz is the one smoking pot in her car and answering every question with the F-word. Judging from the trailer though, Diaz is completely tone deaf to the nuances of the word, and instead of being funny or shocking, it all comes off as desperate and forced. Like that one friend's dad who swore every other word so you'd realize he wasn't a square.
It's also hard to buy Justin Timberlake's naive, nerdy character based on this trailer, but maybe it somehow gets fleshed out in the film. Jason Segel is here, and he seems reliable as usual, but really the only laugh out loud moments in the trailer belong to Phyllis Smith from The Office, playing the straight foil to Diaz. There aren't many though. There is however, a sexy car wash, and maybe that matters more to some?
Verdict: Pass.