Bad Teacher **½

Jake Kasdan directed this Comedy. Watch Preview Cast: Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake, Lucy Punch, John Michael Higgins, Jason Segel, Phyllis Smith, Thomas Lennon, Eric Stonestreet. Rated R for sexual content, nudity, language and some drug use. Running time is one hour and thirty-two minutes.

A foul-mouthed, ruthless, and inappropriate teacher (Diaz) fights off the advances of a sarcastic, irreverent gym teacher (Segel), while attempting to woo a rich, handsome substitute (Timberlake). Her rival is an overachieving teacher (Punch) who will stop at nothing to win the contest.

Diaz plays a character who is just as described above but her screen persona is such you like her just the same. She may be all of those things but she's also very smart and eventually she figures out what's really best for her. There is plenty of profanity but in this case it fits the character's personality and doesn't seem as gratuitous as in many films of late. Punch does a terrific job as the competing teacher and Segel is also quite good. Timberlake's character isn't in the same league as the others but that has to do with the script and not his ability. If profanity doesn't bother you this film is amusing at times although not a major laugh riot. Theatres/Times.