Bad education

“We don't need no education
We don't need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone” – Pink Floyd

Once again, this year, the Deauville American Film Festival will have allowed us to discover excellent films, whether in the official selection of films in competition or in the Premieres and Documentary categories. Bad Education directed by Cory Finley and written by Mike Makowsky reminds us of the great thrillers of the 80's in which vast machinations are discovered and many incriminated people fall one after the other. Adapted from an article by Robert Kolker that appeared in a New York magazine, Bad Education tells a true story of the biggest educational scandal in the United States.

The setting of the story takes place in the village of Roslyn, Long Island and introduces us to the charismatic Frank Tassone (Jackman) and his assistant Pam Gluckin (Janney). The two men, who are trying to make their school district public as the best in the country, turn out to be real crooks and embezzle millions of dollars in order to satisfy their many excesses. Yet when a student from a colleague's newspaper begins to investigate in order to write an article, she is going to put the entire major embezzlement of money in the eyes of the whole thing. If Bad Education is able to keep us on our toes, it is not only because the excellent script of the film is conducive to many twists and turns, but also because this film intended for HBO (broadcast on OCS on September 13) benefits from the presence in the two main roles of Hugh Jackman and Allison Janney,

How can we not also see in Bad Education the failure of the American education system in which the race for success, to see one's high school or university among the first places in a ranking in which everything is manipulable, echoes a whole country that is struggling to get out of its greatest economic and social crisis. By betting pharaonic sums of money on certain people who do not have an acceptable moral code, the whole country of the United States is going through a particularly severe shock. Bad education is all the stronger to discover now that it is impossible not to think about the current American political system where all the blows are played with millions of dollars interposed to the detriment of the American people. While the character of Frank Tassone seems to be a model of success and an example for everyone, it is unfortunately too late when the scandal breaks out to limit the damage.

One can only salute the excellent performance in the lead role of Hugh Jackman who does not hesitate to break his image by bringing to life a true monster of perfidy capable of embezzling millions for his own comfort. Equally at ease in the role of one of the most famous characters of the Marvel comics, as in an unforgettable over-rated musical comedy as in a much more realistically appealing film, his immense talent literally jumps out at the eyes and imposes Bad Education as a film to be discovered urgently...

Bad Education
Directed by Cory Finley
Produced by Fred Berger, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Julia Lebedev, Mike Makowsky, Oren Moverman, Eddie Vaisman
Screenplay by Mike Makowsky
Based on "The Bad Superintendent" by Robert Kolker
Starring Hugh Jackman, Allison Janney, Geraldine Viswanathan, Alex Wolff, Rafael Casal, Stephen Spinella, Annaleigh Ashford, Ray Romano
Music by Michael Abels
Cinematography: Lyle Vincent
Edited by Louise Ford
Production company: Automatik, Sight Unseen, Slater Hall
Distributed by HBO Films
Release date: September 8, 2019 (TIFF), April 25, 2020 (United States)
Running time 108 minutes

Seen on September 7, 2020 at the Centre International de Deauville

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