Cameron Diaz has always an obvious urge to play around in the R-rated comedy sandbox. The Sweetest Thing may not be a great movie, but it's a game attempt at fashioning a fem-driven comedy that was just as filthy and profane as the typical male road-trip farce. So it's good to see her returning to the raunch pool yet again. Director Jake Kasdan has an unfortunate habit of making fine films (Walk Hard, Zero Effect, The TV Set) that absolutely no one sees, so hopefully this could have his shot at mainstream exposure. As for the film itself, it looks pleasantly amusing, with the always winning conceit of a foul and relatively horrible adult being put in charge of kids. I'm sure the film will get some flack over Diaz's profane and generally unpleasant (and her desire to find a man to take care of her), but it's a little refreshing to see a mainstream comedy where the men are mainly saintly pieces of background scenery while the women get to be center-stage assholes. If this and Bridesmaids both become solid hits, we could (hopefully) see a more consistent output of female-driven comedies. And more importantly, they will be prevalent enough where we won't have to analyze every one of them within an inch of their lives in regards to their gender politics. Bad Teacher comes out June 24th. As always, we'll see...
Scott Mendelson
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