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Pushy parents basking in the reflected glory of driving their kids toward extreme excellence is not exactly a new phenomenon. Long before the college admissions scandal that brought down corporate executives and Hollywood stars alike, the pursuit of academic superiority—real or imagined—has inspired perfectly sensible people to go to insane lengths. The right neighborhood with the right schools, a packed schedule of the right kinds of activities and athletics—it’s all to achieve the greater goal of sending their children to the right Ivy League university which will prepare them for the right lucrative career.

The top administrators at the Roslyn, New York, school district seemed not only to understand this instinct but also to exploit it for their own personal gain. “ Bad Education ” explores their real-life embezzlement scheme, which came crashing down when the high-school newspaper broke the story in 2004. Spending nearly $8 million on a sky bridge to beautify a campus seems reasonable when you’re trying to exude an aura of success—when you’re the fourth-ranked district in the country, gunning for that No. 1 spot. With that much money flying around, skimming a little here and there for a bagel or jewelry or renovations on your beach house in the Hamptons is no biggie.

Director Cory Finley finds the dark humor within this scandal, which he depicts with wit, style and a terrific cast. Hugh Jackman does some of the best work of his long and varied career as the superintendent, Dr. Frank Tassone, whose charisma and polished image disguised a multitude of secrets. Jackman plays on his usual charm and looks to great effect. But there’s something sinister within the slickness that’s unsettling from the first time we see him, spritzing cologne and trimming nose hairs in the mirror of the boys’ bathroom in extreme close-up. Frank clearly cares deeply and works hard to recall names and personal details of students and parents alike throughout the district; we can still see glimmers of the calling that drew him to this challenging profession in the first place. Fundamentally, he’s a pleaser and he wants to be liked—yet increasingly, he savors the fame and power that come with being in a position of authority in an affluent community. And as Frank and his second-in-command (played brilliantly by a brash Allison Janney ) find themselves squirming to survive when their $11.2 million scheme comes to light, their flaws and follies become even more glaringly evident.

Finley’s follow-up to “ Thoroughbreds ,” one of my favorite films of 2018, doesn’t seek to dazzle with sleek, showy camerawork like that film did. But it’s similarly interested in mining the depths of out darkest impulses, and doing so with sharp satire. ( Mike Makowsky , who was a middle school student in Roslyn when the embezzlement scandal broke, wrote the script.) “Bad Education” also calls to mind the great Alexander Payne film “ Election ,” with its students who are smarter and savvier than you’d expect and teachers who aren’t as mature and responsible as you’d hope. Finley actually could have used a bit more of Payne’s sharp bite in tackling this material. Geraldine Viswanathan radiates a quiet but increasingly assertive confidence as the high school reporter whose tough questions and thorough document searches reveal the district’s financial irregularities. Just as compelling as what she finds is her internal debate over how to handle that information. She knows what’s the right thing to do—but what if that’s the wrong move for her future?

That’s the dilemma that also plagues the school board members—led by a vividly haggard Ray Romano —when they first learn of the administrators’ indiscretions. Going public would not only jeopardize the standing of the school district nationwide, it also would damage its reputation locally, which would make it harder for high-school seniors to gain acceptance at top universities, which would cause property values to plummet.

For a long time, Jackman keeps us guessing as to the amount of Frank’s knowledge and the depth of his involvement. Janney’s Pam Gluckin chats casually about flagrant misuse of her district credit card over the buzz of the blender as she mixes margaritas. (And the film’s costume and production design find just the right amount of Long Island tacky and flashy without diving over the top into parody.) Frank, on the other hand, contains myriad, fascinating multitudes. As Jackman gets older, he seems less interested in getting us to like him and more inclined to play complicated characters who make questionable decisions. Wildly violent as his Wolverine may be in the “ X-Men ” universe—particularly in the excellent, standalone “ Logan ”—he’s still essentially a hero. “Bad Education” gives him the chance to play someone who may be doing some truly bad things, and you can tell he’s really sinking his claws into the role this time.

Premieres on HBO on Saturday, 4/25.

Christy Lemire

Christy Lemire is a longtime film critic who has written for RogerEbert.com since 2013. Before that, she was the film critic for The Associated Press for nearly 15 years and co-hosted the public television series "Ebert Presents At the Movies" opposite Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, with Roger Ebert serving as managing editor. Read her answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

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Film credits.

Bad Education (2020)

103 minutes

Hugh Jackman as Frank Tassone

Allison Janney as Pam Gluckin

Ray Romano as Bob Spicer

Alex Wolff as Nick Fleischman

Geraldine Viswanathan as Rachel Kellog

• Cory Finley
• Mike Makowsky

Cinematographer

• Lyle Vincent
• Louise Ford
• Michael Abels

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‘Bad Education’ Review: Adding Fraud to the Curriculum

Hugh Jackman is darkly charismatic as the real-life schools superintendent who admitted to stealing $2 million from his Long Island district.

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By Ben Kenigsberg

“Thoroughbreds,” the 2018 debut feature of the playwright Cory Finley , was not to every taste , but for acid wit and gliding camera moves, it could hardly be beat. Finley’s second feature, “ Bad Education,” which airs Saturday night on HBO, traffics in a kindred casual misanthropy. The movie offers an agreeably slick account of an early-2000s scandal in which a former superintendent of schools in Roslyn, N.Y., pleaded guilty to stealing $2 million from his district.

And like the character played by Hugh Jackman, the superintendent Frank Tassone, “Bad Education” initially keeps its cards close, playing tricks with viewers’ sympathies.

Frank, his hair gelled back and his face always wrenched into a grin, goes out of his way to be presentable. He remembers details about students from years earlier or recognizes their siblings. He meets with a parent who pushes for accelerated treatment for her third-grader. He maintains (or at least fakes) an interest in the lives of his teachers. He even welcomes an unscheduled interview with a school newspaper reporter, Rachel (Geraldine Viswanathan), encouraging her to dig deeper on a story about a school construction boondoggle. This, it turns out, is one of his less sharp moves. (The real-life student journalist who helped break the story of the scandal wrote about her experiences for The New York Times.)

Part of the strength of “Bad Education” is in showing how easily Frank gets others to sign on to his plans. When it comes to light that a fellow administrator, Pam (Allison Janney), has dipped into the district’s finances to the tune of more than $200,000, Frank is, at first, able to contain the fallout by noting the impact bad press would have. College admissions, property values, a forthcoming budget vote — all would be in jeopardy. For a brief time, Pam looks like the central player in the thefts, rather than one piece of a puzzle.

The 2004 New York Magazine article on which the film is based asked whether Roslyn residents allowed themselves to be duped by Tassone. The film, which adheres to the reporting with reasonable fidelity, is, at most, slightly more charitable in its assessment. (Ray Romano, terrific as the school board president, is an island of humanity in the sea of backbiting and self-interest.)

Finley didn’t write “Bad Education,” as he did “Thoroughbreds,” and if this film lacks the stylized, pitch-black verbal parries of that movie, he outfits it with similarly precise compositions and a jarring, percussive score. The screenplay, by Mike Makowsky, a student in Roslyn during the scandal , shows an ear for Long Island flavor and class tensions, and even the set decoration is attuned to details. The student journalists’ computer software is spot-on turn-of-the-aughts.

But it’s Jackman, whose smile appears increasingly wolfish as the film goes on (and as Frank’s face grows taut with cosmetic surgery), who ultimately owns “Bad Education.” It’s a plum part, sure, but also a deeply unsympathetic one — a chance for the actor to channel his charisma toward dark, mischievous ends.

Bad Education

Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 43 minutes. Watch on HBO .

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The Perfect-Life Facade Crumbles Fantastically in ‘Bad Education’

By Peter Travers

Peter Travers

Truth trumps fiction once again in Bad Education , Cory Finley’s whipsmart and wickedly fascinating take on a 2002 scandal about trusted educators who embezzled more than $11 million from the public-school system in Long Island, New York. A stellar Hugh Jackman , like you’ve never seen him (or Wolverine) before, tackles the complex role of Long Island school superintendent Frank Tassone, a hero in the posh district for making Roslyn High fourth in the country by getting top seniors into Ivy League colleges, which brings cheers from parents and students — he knows all their names — and ups the real-estate value of the neighborhood. Everybody wins.

Maybe that’s why no one notices right away that Tassone and his assistant superintendent for business, Pam Gluckin (the ever-amazing Allison Janney ), have their hands in the kitty. The exception is Rachel (a terrific Geraldine Viswanathan of Blockers ), a sophomore used to writing puff pieces for the school paper. It’s Tassone, of all people, who urges Rachel to act like a real journalist and ask hard questions. That’s when Rachel discovers discrepancies in the competing bids to build a $7.2 million skywalk for Roslyn High. Where do you get that kind of dough when the school ceilings are leaking? It’s just the tip of the iceberg for a bigger fraud being perpetrated on taxpayers.

Working from a devilishly clever and detailed script by Mike Makowsky ( I Think We’re Alone Now ), who was himself a student at Roslyn Middle School at the time, Finley dodges the banal trap of pointing fingers to investigate how venality happens, especially to good guys. And that’s what Tassone and Gluckin once were, back in their day as underpaid servants of the public trust who had to stand by and watch as the fat cats — such as the school board president (a dynamite Ray Romano) — raked in salaries that hit the million mark. If you’re Tassone, you start by charging a quick pizza to the school credit card before you move on to European vacation trips on the Concord, paying off your mortgage, and dressing in designer duds that edge you out of the classroom and into the corridors of power. Without ever condoning criminality, Finley astutely traces its roots. In his striking 2017 debut film Thoroughbreds , Finley showed how quickly two teen girls could go from fantasizing about murder to the real thing.

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All credit to Jackman for digging deep into the human side of Tassone, a closeted gay who keeps a photo of his late, alleged wife on his desk to discourage amorous mothers. A furtive lifestyle came early to Tassone who lives in Manhattan, away from prying eyes, with his age-appropriate life partner (Stephen Spinella) while supporting a former student ( Blindspotting ’s Rafael Casal) he hooked up with during a school convention in Vegas. The younger man, an exotic dancer-turned-bartender, flatters Tassone’s youthful sense of himself, which he maintains with facelifts and Botox treatments paid for by the same creative book-keeping that Gluckin uses to remodel her houses and keep family members on the payroll.

As it happens, it’s Gluckin who gets nailed first and Tassone who throws her under the bus, spinning the facts to clear himself and to buy her silence by making sure she keeps her pension even after she’s canned. His argument to the board is that a scandal of this magnitude would kill the school’s hard-won prestige and end its days as a cash cow for the entire community. The cover-up is a hustle on par with P.T. Barnum, the famed promoter who Jackman played in The Greatest Showman . But the board members go along with it, accomplices in their own defeat.

Ironically, it’s Rachel’s expose in the school paper that brings down Tassone’s house of cards. And Finley tracks the ruination without hype or mealy-mouthed moralizing. Jackman could have parodied Tassone as a pathetic sadsack, Instead he lets us see a man who truly dedicated himself to his school and the students he once taught literature from Shakespeare to Salinger. Tassone’s tragic flaw is hubris, the feeling that he could talk his way out of anything.

Not this time. You can Google what happened to Tassone after his conviction. No spoilers needed since Jackman lets you see the loss and devastation in his every look and gesture. It’s a career-best performance from a movie star with a genuine actor’s depth and range. Bad Education is going directly to HBO ; thankfully, Academy gurus have just changed their rules in regards to VOD/straight-to-streaming films originally intended for theatrical release being eligible to compete*. Jackman could get nominated for an Oscar here — but whether he does or not, the audience is still rewarded with a steadily riveting provocation that jabs at the culture of money that makes us all complicit.

*This review was been modified to reflect the Academy’s change in rules re: eligibility.

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Bad Education review – Hugh Jackman steals embezzlement drama

A fascinating central turn proves the most interesting ingredient in a shaggy retelling of a high school corruption scandal

W ith his stylish, misanthropic debut Thoroughbreds, the writer-director Cory Finley arrived on the scene with undeniable, if slightly unrefined, talent. It was the kind of first movie that made you excited to see where he might go next, successful enough to suggest that better things were waiting around the corner. With his follow-up, the darkly comic drama Bad Education, he’s stepped up in terms of scale and ambition, telling a fact-based story of a brazen high school embezzlement with a starrier cast at his disposal. But like his first film, it’s the work of someone still finding their footing, a few degrees away from something worth truly shouting about.

Like three other films also showing at this year’s Toronto film festival, it’s based on a long-read feature , a growing trend that often pushes unusual, under-reported stories even further into the spotlight. The case at the centre of Bad Education is a classic example, a scandal that might have gained traction locally but remains unknown to many. It’s 2002 and Frank Tassone (Hugh Jackman), a much-loved school superintendent, is determined to push Long Island’s Roslyn high to the top of the area rankings and has helped push for the construction of an elaborate “sky walk” to help boost the school’s image. Rachel (Geraldine Viswanathan), an eager student reporter, is assembling what she calls a “puff piece” for the school paper about the plans but after interviewing both Frank and his assistant superintendent for business, Pam Gluckin (Allison Janney), she discovers that there’s something afoot.

For a long stretch of Bad Education, we’re not really sure where the film is going or even what the film is, whether we’re in darkly comic Election territory or something more straightforward and dramatic. At times, I wasn’t entirely convinced that Finley and the screenwriter, Mike Makowsky, were sure either, with a shagginess that borders on aimlessness, but their decision to skate so close to banality slowly pays off. We’re invested in the district’s dull bureaucracy as the thread starts to unravel, and it unravels in often un-cinematic ways, as does life. What’s most refreshing is how the pair avoid turning their characters into grotesque caricatures, something that a less humane film would have easily done. The wrongdoers, whose slow, increasingly unhinged, theft of school funds gets revealed, are closer to pathetic than evil.

While it’s never exactly dull watching Janney repeat her quippy, alcohol-soaked, Oscar- and Emmy-winning shtick, it’s a relief to see her dialled down here. She’s wonderfully restrained and utterly credible playing a woman whose only real motivation was wanting more from life, and Makowsky avoids the need to justify or excuse her behaviour. There’s also a strong turn from Viswanathan as the student whose reporting uncovered the depths of corruption, and her character is presented in an equally plain manner: she’s plucky without being Nancy Drew and with this and the Sundance hit Hala, her star is definitely on the rise. But the film’s real ace is a never-better Jackman, following up an underrated turn in last year’s The Front Runner with another difficult and inscrutable protagonist. It’s fascinating character work for reasons it would be unfair for me to reveal (even though it’s easily Google-able) but there are hidden, tragic depths and it’s one of the best performances we’ve ever seen from him as he appears to be thriving in a challenging and thrilling new phase of his career.

Makowsky shows us how people attempt to justify their own bad behaviour when they don’t think of themselves as bad people. There’s an unspoken arrogance often attached with working in a system that’s ultimately helping others to succeed, and in the film it acts as a weak defence of amorality, as if they’re somehow owed something. It’s a slight movie at times, unfocused at others, even plodding in parts, and I didn’t leave the cinema entirely convinced that it was the most satisfying way to tell this particular story but I did leave feeling confident in both Jackman’s prowess and Finley’s promise, yet to be fully realised.

Bad Education is showing at the Toronto film festival and is still awaiting a distributor

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'The Bad Education Movie': Review

By Fionnuala Halligan, Chief Film Critic 2015-08-21T11:05:00+01:00

Dir. Elliot Hegarty. UK, 2015. 91 mins.

Talented British comedian Jack Whitehall lays his cards on the table in The Bad Education Movie’s pre-opening-credit sequence where, as an inept school teacher taking his class on a school trip to Amsterdam, he uses a disabled pupil to queue-jump past a line of Hasidic Jews at Anne Frank House, inadvertently takes drugs, sees a talking panda and runs off through the city with a mannequin Anne before falling into a canal in an ET tribute. Childish? Yes, of course; this is schoolboy humour run amok. Funny? Bad Education is unexpectedly hilarious, and that’s before the plot proper kicks in, with Whitehall’s Alfie Wickers becoming the leader of a toothless band of Cornish terrorists led by Iain Glen.

This film will make a world of difference to Jack Whitehall’s career, offering opportunities similar to those taken by James Corden and Ricky Gervais

The Bad Education Movie (derived from Whitehall’s TV series) arrives in the UK’s late-August-golden slot established by The Inbetweeners in 2011, aiming for a pre return to school lift-off. It should succeed, and if for some reason it falters at the box office (where it is released by and exec-produced by Entertainment, like The Inbetweeners ), this goofy low-budget comedy with notably decent production values is certainly set for a healthy commercial life, some plum TV deals at home, possibly even a sequel.

Whitehall’s stock is high in the UK, and although Bad Education is often lewd and Whitehall’s naked bum and testicles are a running gag throughout, it’s by no means filthy or objectionable. It is very British humour, however – jokes about posh boys, peg-legged prostitutes and pasties may be lost in translation.

Front and centre of Bad Education is 27-year-old Whitehall in his film debut, willing to go the distance with his character and pushing the plot into unexpected realms of absurdity. Already a highly successful stand-up comedian in the UK and star of another hit TV show Fresh Meat , Whitehall is the son of producer/talent agent Michael Whitehall (they have written a book together called Him & Me) . His character Alfie Wickers, Britain’s most inept and up-for-it schoolteacher, gets his kids to tattoo ‘Class K Forever’ onto his back. They only get as far as CLA, however, which also stands for the ‘Cornish Liberation Army’ - with unexpected consequences during Abbey Grove School’s post-GCSE trip to Cornwall.

Written by Whitehall and the TV-show’s co-creator Freddy Syborn and directed smartly by TV’s Elliot Hegarty, making his feature debut, Bad Education is not by any means well-funded but marries a strong sense of comic timing with a visual ambition which knows its limitations. Unlike others of its type, this film isn’t at all harsh on the eye, and Hegarty makes playful cinematic references throughout which underscore the performances and some snappy writing.

Bad Education is also the kind of British film where the comedy cameos come on hot and heavy; Matthew Horne and Harry Enfield return from the TV show, with Iain Glen and Steve Speirs hamming it up as rebel Cornish smugglers, Jeremy Irvine on board as a nasty toff, Steve Oram as a biscuit-loving policeman and Joanna Scanlan is more than game as an over-protective mother (Whitehall daringly refers to Mumsnet members “of a certain age” “putting down their massive glasses of white wine” to rescue the kids - never mind the teabagging, that’s the controversial gag).

The class’s cheerful stereotyping is comically palatable (the fat kid, the gay kid, the boy in the wheelchair, etc) carried by The Bad Education Movie’s breezy cheerfulness. There’s a nice soundtrack featuring the Rizzle Kicks, amongst others, and a rousing fencing finale set in Pendennis Castle. Bad Education won’t change the world, and viewers probably have to be both British and in the right frame of mind to best appreciate its highjinks, but this film will make a world of difference to Jack Whitehall’s career, offering opportunties similar to those taken by James Corden and Ricky Gervais.

Production companies: Tiger Aspect Pictures Production, Cave Bear Productions

Contact: Tiger Aspect, [email protected]

Producers: Pippa Brown, Ben Cavey

Executive producer: Nigel Green

Screenplay: Jack Whitehouse, Freddie Syborn

Cinematography: Pete Rowe

Editor: Peter Oliver

Production design: Simon Rogers

Music: Vince Pope

Main cast: Jack Whitehall, Iain Glen, Harry Enfield, Joanna Scanlan, Matthew Horne, Ethan Lawrence, Layton Williams, Nikki Runeckles, Kae Alexander, Weruche Opia, Jack Binstead, Charlie Wernham

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Film Review: ‘The Bad Education Movie’

Jack Whitehall's cheerfully lowbrow classroom sitcom makes a scrappy leap to the big screen.

By Guy Lodge

Film Critic

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While one can, at a push, imagine Pedro Almodovar being amused by a gag involving a holy petrified foreskin, there’s otherwise little danger of “The Bad Education Movie” being mistaken for its Spanish namesake in years to come. As scatty as it is scatological, this crudely amusing bigscreen transfer for young comedian Jack Whitehall ‘s popular, now-defunct BBC sitcom trots out the well-worn jokes inherent in its televisual premise, as a posh dimwit teacher is repeatedly schooled by his adoring class of state-school rascals. It does, however, graft them onto a plot — involving a grassroots political coup in, of all places, Cornwall — more extravagantly daft than a half-hour episode would permit, giving some peppy purpose to an otherwise low-rent cash-in. As for Whitehall, his film debut makes no concessions to the uninitiated, as his trademark mugging ping-pongs cheerily between the endearing and the enervating. 

Where staggering domestic B.O. for 2011’s comparable TV spinoff “The Inbetweeners Movie” proved a degree of crossover appeal exceeding the sitcom’s viewership, first-weekend numbers suggest “The Bad Education Movie” hasn’t broken out beyond its young-skewing fanbase — which should at least serve it well in ancillary. (With ABC having recently passed on a pilot for the show’s American adaptation, prospects outside the U.K. seem modest.) A sequel may be far from a guaranteed prospect, but the pic does establish the elastic-faced Whitehall as a film-anchoring comic presence (and writer) for other, similarly lightweight vehicles.

An Amsterdam-set prologue makes no attempt whatsoever to explain the “Bad Education” setup to viewers unacquainted with its three successful seasons, but it’s easy enough to grasp: Outmatched history teacher Alfie Wickers (Whitehall) struggles to discipline his class on an educational tour to the Anne Frank Museum, before himself becoming the instigator of mayhem (and pratfalling into a dank canal) following an accidental ingestion of magic mushrooms. Such hijinks are business as usual for the seven teens of Class K — somehow one of the smallest in London’s crowded government school system — who are healthily varied in terms of race, sexuality and intellect, but unified in their adherence to blunt cultural stereotype, from the studious Chinese pupil (Kae Alexander) to the sassy gay one (Layton Williams).

The most substantially developed of them is insecure teacher’s pet Joe (Ethan Lawrence, finding a degree of emotional conflict in broad-brush material), whose bullishly overprotective mother Susan (Joanna Scanlan) emerges as Alfie’s chief antagonist. One year after the misbegotten Amsterdam tour, she appoints herself the stern class chaperone on a weekend trip to Cornwall, replacing Alfie’s planned agenda of pubs and house parties with a granola itinerary of historical castles and environmental centers. (Generous location shooting reps the most notable feature of an otherwise no-frills tech package.) In his attempt to escape her vindictive surveillance — and for reasons best not explained or considered — Alfie winds up being mistaken for a member of the self-styled “Cornish Liberation Army,” whose grizzled leader Pasco (Iain Glen, gamely gurning) has a violent uprising in mind.

Things get sillier still from there, while viewers can choose to what degree they wish to be offended by punchlines at the expense of the disabled, the rural or, simply, the female. (“Mumsnet have put down their massive glasses of white wine and picked up their pitchforks,” Alfie says in response to news of mothers’ complaints.) Yet stray moments of class-conscious humanity surface amid the parade of one-legged strippers, diarrhea strikes and testicle-snapping swans. There’s a touching undertow, in particular, to an extended setpiece in which Alfie is reunited with a tuxedoed gang of his former public-school chums, led by Jeremy Irvine in a sneering cameo. The hapless teacher’s jovial recollections of laddish mischief turn out to be mere fabulism, denying his lowly place on the social totem pole: The man-child becomes simply the child.

Whitehall jumps into the proceedings with baying gusto, encapsulating the character’s balance of can-do spirit and cotton-brained idiocy in a climactic speech that welds together quotations from “Braveheart,” “300” and Cheryl Fernandez-Versini. For those who find his puppyish hyperactivity wearying, Scanlan is a wily comic foil — and, considering how much unseen punishment the script piles on her nether regions, a jolly good sport.

Reviewed at Cineworld Haymarket, London, Aug. 23, 2015. Running time: 90 MIN.

• Production: (U.K.) An Entertainment Film Distributors release (in U.K.) of a Cave Bear Prods., Tiger Aspect Prods. production. (International sales: Tiger Aspect, London.) Produced by Ben Cavey, Pippa Brown. Executive producers, Nigel Green, Trevor Green, Bella Wright, Helen Wright, Jack Whitehall. Co-producer, Sarada McDermott.
• Crew: Directed by Elliot Hegarty. Screenplay, Jack Whitehall, Freddy Syborn, based on Whitehall's television series "Bad Education." Camera (color, HD), Pete Rowe; editor, Peter H. Oliver; music, Vince Pope; production designer, Simon Rogers; art director, Thorin Thompson; set decorator, Tom Rea; costume designer, Claire Finlay-Thompson; sound, Nigel Albermaniche; supervising sound editor, Antony Bayman; re-recording mixer, Bayman; visual effects supervisor, Dave Sewell; visual effects, Double Negative; stunt coordinators, Steve Truglia, Tom Lucy, Paul Kennington; line producers, Ohna Falby, Nicola Morrow; assistant director, Ursula Haworth; second unit director, Ben Cavey; second unit camera, Jeremy Hewson; casting, Sarah Crowe.
• With: Jack Whitehall, Joanna Scanlan, Iain Glen, Ethan Lawrence, Layton Williams, Kae Alexander, Weruche Opia, Nikki Runeckles, Charlie Wernham, Jack Binstead, Sarah Solemani, Mathew Horne, Jeremy Irvine, Talulah Riley, Clarke Peters, Harry Enfield, Steve Oram, Marc Wootton.

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The Bad Education Movie Review

School daze.

If you didn’t like the Bad Education TV show, you won’t enjoy the movie. And even those that did like series might tire at the mid-way point of this feature. But stick with it as Whitehall and co-writer Freddy Syborn make some unexpected narrative choices, director Elliot Hegarty directs in a style that transcends the show’s small-screen roots, and ultimately there are enough good jokes to make the feature a worthwhile endeavour.

In This Article

More Reviews by Chris Tilly

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• DVD & Streaming

Bad Education

• Comedy , Drama

Content Caution

In Theaters

• Hugh Jackman as Frank Tassone; Ray Romano as Big Bob Spicer; Allison Janney as Pam Gluckin; Geraldine Viswanathan as Rachel Bhargava; Rafael Casal as Kyle Contreras

Home Release Date

• April 26, 2020
• Cory Finley

Distributor

Movie review.

In the eyes of his school district, Frank Tassone is an almost perfect school superintendent. He makes an effort to meet and encourage every single student under his purview, his door is always open to any parent with any problem and—perhaps most importantly—he has almost singlehandedly reshaped the district into one of the top 10 school systems in the nation.

Roslyn High is number four on that esteemed national list. And Frank is aiming for number one. That’s a goal the slickly coiffed and perfectly dressed superintendent will confidently proclaim to any passing parent or real estate agent. After all, if the school district shines brightly, everybody wants to live in it, housing prices go through the roof, and all is well.

Things have been going so well for Frank over the last 10 years of his tenure, that it’s almost inconceivable that anything could go wrong.

But that’s not to say that there is nothing wrong, in the Tassone kingdom. Not by a long shot.

The fact is, Frank and assistant superintendent Pam Glukin have been cooking the school district’s financial books for years. They’ve siphoned off lots of taxpayer dollars, and they’ve both been living double lives on that bounty. Incredible homes, expensive cars, vacations around the world, secret affairs—they’ve all been bought and paid for on the school district’s dime.

But to Frank, any potential tipping or wobbling of that illicit cream saucer is simply inconceivable. He’s so arrogantly confident in his position and situation that he even encourages a student to dig more deeply for an article to be reported in the school paper.

She was afraid that the school only wanted a puff piece on an upcoming building project costing millions of dollars. “It’s only a puff piece if you let it be a puff piece,” the smiling, perfect superintendent declares to that journalistically minded young student. And wouldn’t you know it, she takes those words to heart. She digs deeper … and finds the biggest financial scandal in the history of public education.

You might call it, almost perfect.

Positive Elements

You could say that this film wants to have things both ways. It encourages young writers to do their best and to dig for great stories, for instance. But at the same time, Rachel, the student writer here is placed in something of a spoiler role through most of the film.

You could also suggest that the Frank Tassone story is a cautionary tale of greed and hubris. But Frank is painted as such a doggone likeable guy that it’s hard to see him as the deeply flawed character we know he is.

Spiritual Elements

Frank has a “Snow Day Magic Wand” hanging in his school office.

Sexual Content

Early on, Frank readily paints himself as a devoted widower. A single mom moves in to kiss him at one point, but he backs off suggesting that the memory of his deceased wife is still too fresh.

We soon learn, however, that he’s using that cover as a way to hide a long-running gay relationship as well as Frank’s tendency to have gay affairs while off on school district business. We see Frank kiss and embrace two different men in several different scenes, as well as using his charming ways to seduce a former male student. (It’s implied they have a sexual encounter.)

Violent Content

When Pam Glukin gets caught—after tens of thousands of dollars are put on a school district credit card—she breaks things and rages in a fury at her adult son. Frank goes in for a face lift and we see a scalpel cut into the flesh at his temple.

[ Spoiler Warning ] Frank gets arrested by police, forced down on a driveway and cuffed.

Crude or Profane Language

Ten f-words and a half-dozen s-words are joined by a handful of uses each of “h—,” “a–” and “b–ch.” Jesus’ name is misused twice and “god” is combined with “d–n” once. The words “pr-ck” and “schmuck” are spit out as well. We see a crude hand gesture brandished in anger.

Drug and Alcohol Content

Pam smokes regularly and throws a pool party featuring beer and barbeque in her back yard. Frank and a gay lover smoke and drink in a gay bar and in his hotel room. We see a bar full of drinking and dancing male patrons.

Other Negative Elements

To maintain their ongoing scam, Frank and Pam pull the school system’s financial auditor into their coverup. Lies, told by Frank and Pam and some on the school board, are used repeatedly to prop up the appearance of propriety on all fronts and hide the growing scandal from the world.

A school board member gambles in Las Vegas. A woman has her dog intentionally defecate on someone’s front porch. We’re told by the movie’s end that over $11 million was stolen over the course of 12 years in this film based on a true story.

“A town is only as good as its school system,” Roslyn High School superintendent Frank Tassone states at the beginning of Bad Education. And the film illustrates how that statement is absolutely true. When a school district is soaring with national prominence, its kids are well-primed, its parents are happy, home prices boom and the whole community seems to thrive. But throw in some covered-up corruption and whoops , all those goodies head south in a hurry.

This is a well-drawn movie version of a true story that unfolded in the early 2000s in a Long Island school district—a pic that peels back the pungent onion layers of a tale filled with corruption and hubris. That doesn’t, however, make it an enjoyable diversion.

Hugh Jackman works hard to fill his role with wit and slicked-back charm. But this true story of corrpution tips its soiled hand early on: We know where it’s going, and we know it’s going to get ugly. After a compelling intro, then, it’s simply a case of holding on through the ever-worsening molder of foul arrogance, unscrupulous greed and illicit gay love affairs.

A town like Roslyn may be only as good as it’s school system, but a movie is only as good as it’s subject matter. And both have a rotten core in this case.

After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.

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Bad education, common sense media reviewers.

Excellent performances make tepid subject exciting.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Sticking to your guns to find justice in a corrupt

The school and administration have a pretty homoge

No violence is depicted, though some nonviolent ve

Romantic relationships. Shows a couple making out.

Profanity is used frequently: "f--k," "s--t," "dam

Characters smoke and drink, often to excess. Drug

Parents need to know that Bad Education is an HBO movie about corrupt school administrators who steal money from educational funds for their personal use. Characters frequently drink and occasionally smoke, and there are a few club scenes where drug use is implied but not shown. Simple romantic relationships…

Positive Messages

Sticking to your guns to find justice in a corrupt situation is the main theme.

Positive Role Models

The school and administration have a pretty homogenous student body and faculty for a city in New York, though that's at least part of the film's point. Main characters are criminals, but driving force of the action is a high school student who diligently sticks to her ideals.

Violence & Scariness

No violence is depicted, though some nonviolent verbal threats are made.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Profanity is used frequently: "f--k," "s--t," "damn."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Characters smoke and drink, often to excess. Drug use is implied but not shown.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Bad Education is an HBO movie about corrupt school administrators who steal money from educational funds for their personal use. Characters frequently drink and occasionally smoke, and there are a few club scenes where drug use is implied but not shown. Simple romantic relationships are depicted, but only kissing is shown -- no nudity or simulated sex. Profanity is used frequently, especially "f--k." To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (3)
• Kids say (2)

Based on 3 parent reviews

Great acting, good movie

Worth watching, what's the story.

In BAD EDUCATION, Frank Tassone ( Hugh Jackman ) is a popular superintendent in an up-and-coming Long Island school system. When student reporter Rachel (Geraldine Viswanathan) conducts a routine interview about a massive construction project at the high school, Tassone encourages her to take herself seriously as a journalist, not knowing it will lead her to dig deeper than he could have imagined.

Is It Any Good?

As far as crime stories go, embezzlement isn't always the most thrilling subject. But Bad Education turns a relatively simple story about an administrator caught stealing money into a compelling drama, thanks to a nimble script and spot-on performances by Allison Janney , Geraldine Viswanathan, Ray Romano, and especially Hugh Jackman as central character Frank Tassone. Teens might not be riveted by the storyline, but parents who have dealt with schools on any level will be intrigued to explore this world.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the school system. Is it unusual to see this kind of corruption?

What are Frank's character flaws? What are the unethical things he does as superintendent? What clues do we have about Frank's motivations? What drives him? Do you think he wants to get caught? Why or why not?

Do you think that Bad Education has something to say about the U.S. educational system or this community in particular? What is it trying to say?

Movie Details

• In theaters : April 25, 2020
• On DVD or streaming : September 8, 2020
• Cast : Hugh Jackman , Allison Janney , Ray Romano , Geraldine Viswanathan
• Director : Cory Finley
• Inclusion Information : Female actors, Indian/South Asian actors
• Studio : HBO
• Genre : Drama
• Topics : High School
• Run time : 108 minutes
• MPAA rating : NR
• Last updated : September 25, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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Bad Education Reviews

Bad Education is a strong film overall, especially during a time in which we are bereft of theatrical releases and original ideas.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Feb 20, 2024

Frank Tassone isn’t a likeable character; in fact, he’s rather detestable. But that almost makes me love this film even more. It’s been a long journey towards real queer representation...

Full Review | Sep 28, 2022

Bad Education is a criminally entertaining film.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 28, 2022

This is one of those deadpan farces where we get to chortle as awful people are hoisted high on the petard of their own greed.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | May 13, 2022

A deeply American tale about the drip-drop nature of morality in positions of power, and how easy it can be to excuse the wrong thing when it feels so right.

Full Review | Mar 11, 2022

The film effectively sheds light on an ongoing problem in many school systems that quite frankly goes unnoticed. There is no denying that Bad Education is one of 2020s best films and a must-see for any cinephile.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Feb 18, 2022

This is a realistic, intelligent drama with a strong cast and a brilliantly flawed protagonist.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Dec 31, 2021

It's truly a small miracle to watch the way these two antisocial misfits con their way into people's trust, as Jackman and Janney make them all too human.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 31, 2021

It dialogues with topics about hypocrisy and corruption in the American educational sphere, but even with the decent performances from Jackman and Janney cannot rekindle a flat narrative that stumbles along. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 5/10 | Jul 25, 2021

Lightweight as a drama, but the performances - especially from Janney and Jackman - are first rate.

Full Review | Mar 30, 2021

One of 2020's 20 best films.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 16, 2021

So well-crafted... Has really interesting insights into the psychopathy or the humanity of all the players.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Feb 15, 2021

Bad Education is an engrossing comedy drama. Though it is a comedy and also has many characteristics of an out-and-out satire, it treats its subject matter - corruption in academia - with the gravity it deserves.

Full Review | Jan 28, 2021

As much about tacit complicity as corruption, Bad Education is an irresistibly absorbing study of self-interest and an impressive showcase for its director and stars.

Full Review | Jan 26, 2021

Jackson gives a tour-de-force performance, portraying Tassone with incredible alertness and spontaneity.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 14, 2021

A truly fantastic film that viewers will revel every second of.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 20, 2020

Bad Education is one of the finest movies of the year...

Full Review | Oct 19, 2020

Hugh Jackman's performance proves to be another major highlight.

Full Review | Sep 23, 2020

...as a slice of compelling entertainment, Bad Education brings out the best in Hugh Jackman, and given its timely relevancy, it goes to show how America still has some learning to do.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 3, 2020

Everything about the situation in America made the thievery in Roslyn not only possible, but inevitable.

Full Review | Aug 4, 2020

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

The Bad Education Movie

Mr Wickers and his class go on one final school trip after they finish their GCSEs. Mr Wickers and his class go on one final school trip after they finish their GCSEs. Mr Wickers and his class go on one final school trip after they finish their GCSEs.

• Elliot Hegarty
• Jack Whitehall
• Freddy Syborn
• Charlie Wernham
• Nikki Runeckles
• 27 User reviews
• 14 Critic reviews

• Alfie Wickers
• Mitchell Harper
• Chantelle Parsons

• Cleopatra 'Cleo' Ofoedo

• Joe Poulter
• Stephen Carmichael
• Leslie 'Rem Dogg' Remmington

• Martin Wickers

• Rosie Gulliver

• Shaquille Fraser

• Susan Poulter
• Mrs. Carmichael

• Zipwire Guy
• German Teacher

• Grant Dodd (Security Guard)
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

• Trivia This is a spinoff film, and does not fit into the TV series' timeline. This can be seen where Jing still has her glasses, Rem Dogg is not an emo and Mitchel and Joe still have their old haircuts, but Cleo is in the class. In the TV series, Cleo only joins after these changes have happened.

Alfie Wickers : Look more ill.

• Crazy credits "In the production of this film no hamsters, swans or other creatures were subjected to any injury or maltreatment"
• Connections Featured in The Graham Norton Show: Lewis Hamilton/Ewan McGregor/Jack Whitehall/Rita Ora (2015)
• Soundtracks Also Sprach Zarathustra, Op.30 Composed by Richard Strauss Performed by the Slovak Orchestra

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 30 minutes

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