You Think You've Got School Issues...

I mean, with home schooling, Zoom classes, and all the other ways education is being extended during this pandemic craziness.   It could be worse.  You could have been involved in the school system of Roslyn, Long Island back in 2002.  

Well, here I go.  When you can't review movies seen in theaters, you do critiques of those new films found on television.  And "Bad Education" is certainly one to sink your teeth into as you sip your nightly quarantine cocktail.

I must admit that I knew little about what happened in the Roslyn school district back then.   In fact, all I ever knew about that little hamlet was that it was very rich and affluent.  As a result, a lot of money get funneled into the school system.   And, apparently, it's totally available to the superintendent Frank Tassone.

"Bad Education" is one of those movies that begins with the now-requisite title card.  "Based on a true story."   Heck, if one-tenth of what is displayed in this film really happened, I have no clue how I slept through all this on the news even 3000 miles away in Los Angeles.

Tassone, as depicted by Hugh Jackman, was a charismatic, narcissistic, and gay school administrator who liked to dip his hands into the till.   His assistant Pam, played by the always welcome Allison Janney, did her best to help via the use of some dummy corporations run by members of her family.  School funds being used to advance education was practiced.  So was the purchase of first class tickets on the Concorde for Tassone and his boyfriend.

When the wagons circle, Pam takes the fall first and is dismissed by the school board president (Ray Romano!!!!!).  But a persistent girl on the high school newspaper realizes that the crookedness goes all the way to the top.   And the cover-up engineered by Tassone is the driving force of most of the film.   You know he'll get caught.   Like an old "Columbo" the fun is in how that happens.

There's some unevenness with the pacing.  And there's a bizarre musical score that alternates between classical pieces and a single persistent booming sound.  Nevertheless, in this pandemic era, the experience of seeing a new film that keeps your attention from wandering into the kitchen for another snack is appreciated.

And, as you watch "Bad Education," think twice the next time your kid tells you his or her school doesn't have enough money for blackboard erasers.

LEN'S RATING:  Three stars.

Dinner last night:  Salad with roasted garlic dressing.