In his directorial debut, Jason Bateman also stars as a gifted speller, Guy Trilby, on a strange quest to win the national spelling bee. He gets in on a technicality and is sponsored by an online news organization whose publisher/reporter, played by the versatile Kathryn Hahn, has taken on the task in the hopes of scoring a big human interest story. As someone who has survived and thrived as an actor since he was a child himself, one can imagine how the perennial nice guy Bateman must have relished the opportunity to let fly with some exceedingly blue verbal arias. There are many line-crossing moments.
But there is also a child he takes an interest in, played with wide-eyed innocence by Rohan Chand. And here Bateman's experience surely guided the fantastic performance that emerges. Kathryn Hahn is a great foil for Bateman's character, and Allison Janney fumes and schemes appropriately as the national show runner. In the end the reason is revealed, and Trilby learns something his photographic memory cannot provide.
A cautionary note, prompted by the unfortunate experience of an acquaintance who rented "Ted" for her young boys, thinking anything starring a teddy bear would be fine, please note that this movie about kids in a spelling bee is rated R for a very good reason.
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