Bad Words Blu-ray review
Jan 29, 2026- Permalink
Jason Bateman first popped onto our screens at age 10 and he still seems to be everywhere. We saw him on the wholesome Hogan Family sitcom, but as an adult we know him best for the quirky Arrested Development, the raunchy Horrible Bosses, and the dark dramas Ozark, The Outsider, and Black Rabbit. Given this popularity (includng his voice work on the hit Zootopia 2), Universal has decided to re-release his film directorial debut, 2013’s Bad Words, on Blu-ray, though this release is missing the previously included DVD and digital copies. Since I missed it the first time around, I decided to take a look and thanks to Universal and Allied Vaughn, I was sent a review copy.
In Bad Words, Bateman plays Guy Trilby, an 40-year-old eighth grade dropout with an intense dislike and distrust of the rest of humanity. Using a loophole, he enters the Golden Quill Spelling Bee. While he does everything to disrupt the competition, the event organizers do everything they can to stop him. Kathryn Hahn plays Jenny Widgeon, a journalist who accompanies him and is trying to find the deeper reason for his fixation on the Bee. Along the way, he meets fellow contestant Chaitanya Chopra (Rohan Chand), a 10-year-old spelling whiz. The sweet kid tries to befriend Trilby and they become an awkward and unlikely duo throughout the film. The cast also includes Ben Falcone, Philip Baker Hall, and Allison Janney.
The 1080p AVC encoded digital transfer is presented in a 2.40:1 aspect ratio. The colour palette has a desaturated, almost sepia quality to it, an artistic decision by Bateman to reflect the dark and gritty story, though when the film switches to scenes that are televised, the colours are much brighter. Detail is very good from out-of-place hairs, to Bateman’s corduroy and facial features. Black levels are deep.
On the audio side of things, you have the choice of an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack or a Spanish DTS 5.1 track. Subtitles are available for English SDH, French, and Spanish. Though this is a dialogue-driven movie, the surrounds and subwoofer still get to do some work immersing us into the events unfolding before us.
As mentioned, this new Bad Words Blu-ray release does not come with a DVD or digital copy. Extras include deleted and extended scenes, a commentary by director and star Jason Bateman, and an eleven minute behind-the-scenes featurette entitled “The Minds and Mouth Behind Bad Words.”
Bateman’s Bad Words is a tight 90 minute dark comedy with an excellent cast. Universal has given us very good audio and video presentations, so if you like Bateman or this genre and missed it the first time around, this is worth picking up.