Reviewed by Cassam Looch
Stars Billy Bob Thornton, Seann William Scott,
Susan Sarandon, Ethan Suplee,
Amy Poehler, Melissa Sagemiller
Written by Michael Carnes & Josh Gilbert
Certification UK 12A | US PG-13
Runtime 100 minutes
Directed by Craig Gillespie
On paper, this should be a real stinker. Seemingly reprising his role in last year's limp School for Scoundrels (or was it this year? I can’t even remember), Thornton plays a vindictive high school physical education officer — that's PE teacher to you and me — who takes great pleasure in tormenting his students. One day a former student comes back to their home town and is horrified to find that his mother is now shacked up with the titular Mr Woodcock. What’s more, Woodcock is now up for teacher of the year.
The former student, played by the genuinely gormless Scott, is also a self-help guru who is keen to get over his past nightmares and make his peace with all around. What follows are a series of set-ups ranging from the long to painful via an unwelcome stop to Tedium town. This is another completely unremarkable film, which wastes the sizable talents on display. It’s not terrible, but it’s certainly not great. There are a couple of laughs to be had (some of the physical stuff does raise a smile) but all in all I left the screening room feeling that I wanted my money back ... and I saw it for free!
The moments that work tend to focus on the sadistic and nihilistic teacher where we get to see Billy Bob have fun; the rest is shallow and one dimensional stuff. The gags that do work are repeated so often you forget why they were funny in the first place. The real head-scratcher is why on Earth Susan Sarandon is in this film, in a nothing role for which she probably didn’t get paid that much. I bet she wants her money back now as well.