Bad Education

Bad Education (Cory Finley, 2019)

As opposed to, well you know. Banish all thoughts of Pedro Almodovar, Jack Whitehall and even Charlize Theron, most of the education here is good. Well maybe not in being a good influence on your children. Hugh Jackman plays Dr Frank Tassone, an inspirational school superintendent, like a super head, a chief education officer or someone in charge of an academy chain in England. He’s loved by everyone it seems, he’s in charge of a very successful school, enabling students to achieve, making it to Ivy League Colleges etc. He’s also credited with helping house prices sky rocket in the vicinity of the school. A good school creates demand and can be the centre of a good community. As well he’s a man of taste and wealth, and seems to be as liberally perfumed as Mr Gustave.

However, there’s always a however. The school is on the verge of building a skywalk, an $8 million bridge that the students will love, right. The school newspaper sends a reporter to cover the skywalk story, just to really say ‘yay, we’re getting a skywalk!’ in speaking to the superintendent she’s inspired to write what she wants to write, dig deeper, impose herself. That’s where the kernel of the story is.

It’s a cautionary tale of not taking things at face value and also a case of looking at why someone might throw someone else under the bus. That it’s a true story is even more interesting, what was the film where they said ‘some of this stuff actually happened’. I’m not what was done was in the interests of comedy, but that’s where it all ends up.