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‘bad education’: film review | tiff 2019.

Hugh Jackman, Allison Janney and Ray Romano star in 'Thoroughbreds' director Cory Finley's second feature, 'Bad Education,' which was inspired by a school district scandal on Long Island.

By Jordan Mintzer

Jordan Mintzer

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An embezzlement scheme whose total take was $11.2 million seems like peanuts compared to Enron, Bernie Madoff or any other billion-dollar fraud of our epoch.

But in Cory Finley’s engagingly devious new dramedy Bad Education , it takes on the guise of a real-world morality play where the mighty fall from up high — even if up high means the superintendent seat of a public school district on Long Island.

The Bottom Line Gets a solid B+ without even cheating.

Based on a scandal that rocked the upmarket New York suburb of Roslyn over a decade ago, and adapted to the screen by a former student, Mike Makowsky, who witnessed the ordeal firsthand, the film marks something of a departure for Finley from his pitch-black comic debut Thoroughbreds , which drew more than one comparison to Heathers .

Here, the satire is softened to let reality sink in, with characters and plot points drawn from actual sources, resulting in a movie that plays like a slow-burn investigative thriller with comic touches and a major comeuppance in the last act. It’s perhaps less flamboyantly enjoyable than Finley’s first feature, but it also digs deeper into the souls of its characters, asking how a few people meant to ensure the pedagogy of hundreds of children could flunk out so badly.

The man behind all the monkey business was one Frank Tassone ( Hugh Jackman ), the beloved Roslyn School District superintendent who rules over his fiefdom like a lifelong educator, assuaging the fears of overzealous parents and encouraging his students with generous pep talks. He’s assisted by Pam Gluckin ( Allison Janney ), who minds the budget in the office next door, and flanked by school board president Bob Spicer ( Ray Romano ), who works as a local realtor and sees Frank’s success as his ticket to major bucks.

With his house-of-wax complexion, oversize suits and jet-black pompadour, Frank resembles a textbook New Yawk bureaucrat, even if he reads Dickens for fun and appears to be more refined. Jackman slips into such a role perfectly, staring beady-eyed at his interlocutors in the creepy way we all remember school officials used to look at us, and joining Janney, Queens boy Romano and the rest of the cast in a chorus of Long Island accents that could constitute its own Billy Joel fan club.

Initially the film’s plotting seems a bit subdued as we follow Frank on his mission to make Roslyn number one in the region — only in such a location-specific movie could the competing towns of Jericho and Syosset be referred to as “sons of bitches” — watching as he deals with the dull day-to-day duties of running his district. Things seem to be going fine, and Frank seems like a great guy, so why should anybody worry?

It’s at this point that the superintendent dishes out advice to an eager but somewhat inhibited student reporter, Rachel (the excellent Geraldine Viswanathan), telling her to take the puff piece she’s writing about a planned school renovation a little more seriously. Little does he know that Rachel will become the Woodward & Bernstein to his Richard Nixon, spinning her story into a full-blown inquiry that will open up a giant can of worms.

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Bad Education Reviews

This is a great film; it will aggravate, amaze, and confound you all at once. Make it a priority to see it the moment it’s out.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 8, 2024

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

‘Bad Education’: Film Review

Hugh Jackman delivers an acting master class, trading on his charismatic star persona to reveal the rotten core of bad-apple superintendent Frank Tassone.

By Peter Debruge

Peter Debruge

Chief Film Critic

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Going forward, what will Hollywood do when it needs a Kevin Spacey type? The disgraced Oscar winner is precisely the actor a movie like “ Bad Education ” calls for: Cory Finley ’s audacious second feature centers on the true story of Frank Tassone, district superintendent of the Roslyn School District in Long Island, N.Y. — a hero to parents and students alike, responsible for turning Roslyn High into one of the state’s top-achieving public schools, while exploiting the trust the community put in him. It’s a tricky, two-faced role that calls for the kind of firm-handshake, direct-eye-contact duplicity Spacey brought to “House of Cards” and half a dozen movies before it. Go ahead, Google “Frank Tassone” and tell me that I’m wrong.

Now, Hugh Jackman isn’t the actor I would’ve expected to fill those shoes. He’s more movie star than character actor, and this role presents him in such an unflattering light — quite literally so, shooting its cast such that their skin looks like raw chicken and every wrinkle casts a shadow — that you’d think his agent would have advised him against it. (George Clooney’s probably did.) That’s what’s so courageous about Jackman’s decision, and one of several reasons that “Bad Education” is the best work he’s ever done.

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Here’s a star at the height of his powers leveraging his own appeal to remind that even our heroes are fallible and that you can never really judge someone from the outside. And Finley — whose only prior feature credit is the ice-cold, Patricia Highsmith-worthy high-wire act “Thoroughbreds” — is every bit the director to bring it home, pairing Jackman with an equally astonishing Allison Janney as school business administrator Pam Gluckin, Tassone’s creative-accounting accomplice. Finley, who clearly thrives when dramatizing morally complicated situations, doesn’t do the first thing you’d expect from any telling of this national-headline-making story (one that was first exposed by the school paper, the Hilltop Beacon): He doesn’t sensationalize it. Not that it would have been wrong to do so.

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It worked for Martin Scorsese in “The Wolf of Wall Street.” It worked for Steven Soderbergh in “The Informant.” Splash it up — that’s the obvious answer. Make the colors pop, the movie’s carotid artery bulge. That’s how such material is usually played. Look at this story on paper — a high school student exposes an $11 million embezzlement scheme perpetrated by the institution’s most admired figure — and you might expect a tongue-in-cheek cross between “Election” and “To Die For” (the Gus Van Sant-directed satire inspired by Pamela Smart, a high school employee locked up after enlisting her teenage lover to murder her hubby).

Written by Mike Makowsky (“I Think We’re Alone Now”), who was attending Roslyn Middle School when the Tassone scandal broke, “Bad Education” doesn’t shy away from the humor of the situation, but it doesn’t go for the cheap laughs either (unless you count some of the distractingly tacky decorating choices in Gluckin’s ready-for-remodeling home). With their strong accents and “Sopranos”-like way of dressing, the movie’s all-too-trusting Long Island residents would’ve been an easy target for parody, but that’s not the tone Finley’s going for. From the high-contrast, stark-widescreen look of things, he’s most interested in the way that people like Tassone and Gluckin could rationalize what they were doing.

That’s easy: Of all the careers in America, educators are by far the most undercompensated. In New York, where the cost of living is high and the real estate outrageous (the latter ironically exacerbated by the quality of the public schools), how are teachers supposed to afford being part of the community they serve? That doesn’t justify graft, mind you, but it suggests how people who’ve dedicated their lives to a low-earning field might find themselves bent toward skimming a little something extra for themselves out of the school budget.

“Bad Education” makes a point of showing how much Tassone meant to the community. Early on (the year is 2002, as signified by flip phones, compact discs and other period details), Tassone is seen tweezing his nose hairs before going onstage to take credit for turning the school into a success. Roslyn is ranked No. 4 in the country. Test scores are up. Seniors are getting into Ivy League schools in record numbers. And Roslyn is set to break ground on a $7.5 million “sky walk” that could give the community a massive boost.

Rachel, a sophomore played by “Blockers” standout Geraldine Viswanathan , has just joined the school paper, whose editor isn’t prepared for the deep dive into the school’s financial records that she has in mind. “We are an extracurricular designed to get us into good colleges,” he says. But Rachel (a fictional character based on an actual student journalist) has something to prove — to herself; to her father (Harid Hillon), who was canned in an insider-trading scandal; and to Tassone, who truly cares about the students, encouraging her to turn the puff-piece assignment into something meaningful.

At times, the story borders on the incredible, and it may spoil the surprise to read some of the details that follow. Through an imbecilic mistake — in which Gluckin’s son charges thousands of dollars of home renovation supplies to the school account — the school board gets wind of Gluckin’s financial misdeeds. When it happens, audiences don’t know whether or to what degree Tassone is involved, and it’s fascinating to watch Jackman in action: Like a master politician (or a brilliant actor), he sizes up the situation, assesses his audience and begins to spin things to best protect all involved. In other movies, scenes like these are played such that viewers can see the con man’s hand, but Jackman keeps a poker face, which protects the remaining surprises until such time that Rachel can reveal them.

True-crime movies so often serve to reinforce the notion that wrongdoers are eventually brought to justice in this country. But “Bad Education” refuses to get so reductively didactic. Yes, Tassone and Gluckin stole millions of dollars, but they also made Roslyn an extremely successful school (if you don’t dwell on the leaky ceilings and outdated equipment). When certain details of Tassone’s private life come to light — including a reunion with a former student (Rafael Casal of “Blindspotting”) and an unconventional arrangement with one of the school’s mysterious suppliers (Stephen Spinella) — one may be tempted to judge. But the real takeaway is how hard that can be.

Maybe Spacey isn’t the only one who can handle the ambiguity such a performance demands. The way Jackman plays it, Tassone was a villain who didn’t see himself as such. Finley finds creative ways to suggest the discrepancy between inner and outer selves. The hair-slicked, health-conscious superintendent is constantly watching his cholesterol, forgoing carbs in favor of charcoal smoothies — which amounts to nourishing his insides with what looks like black bile. Late in the game, before the jig is up, he goes in for a face-lift — another reminder of the mask Tassone wears (and an unexpected sight for a now-50-year-old movie star). Appearances can be deceiving. This we know. But how do young people cope with having their images of their heroes shattered? And is it really any easier for adults? “Bad Education” can be a hard lesson to accept, but a necessary one in how the world works.

Reviewed at Toronto Film Festival (Special Presentations), Sept. 8, 2019. Running time: 108 MIN.

Production: An HBO release of an Automatik, Sight Unseen, Slater Hall production. (Int'l sales: Endeavor Content, Los Angeles.) Producers: Fred Berger, Eddie Vaisman, Julia Lebedev, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Oren Moverman, Mike Makowsky. Executive producers: Leonid Lebedev, Caroline Jaczko.
Crew: Director: Cory Finley. Screenplay: Mike Makowsky, based on the New York Magazine article "Bad Superintendent" by Robert Kolker. Camera (color, widescreen): Lyle Vincent. Editor: Louise Ford. Music: Michael Abels.
With: Hugh Jackman, Allison Janney, Ray Romano, Geraldine Viswanathan

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‘Bad Education’ Review: Hugh Jackman Is Brilliant in Diabolically Smart American Crime Story

David ehrlich.

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One of the more beautiful things about being an American is that it’s easy to justify your own success — at least to yourself. This is the land of opportunity, and people are taught from an early age that they get what they deserve, and they deserve what they get; if they weren’t, the injustice of it all might spoil the fun. You don’t necessarily have to earn your good fortune, you just have to believe you’re entitled to it. Needless to say, we are up to that challenge! And we’ll do whatever it takes to keep everything in its right place.

With that in mind, it’s strange that, as Americans, we still tell ourselves that corruption is usually a symptom of greed, as opposed (or in addition) to something that happens when people can’t afford to question their own worth. It’s a red, white, and blue twist on a universal kind of perceptual asymmetry: When you do something wrong, you think of an excuse — when someone else does something wrong, you think of a motive. The incredible magic trick of Cory Finley ’s “ Bad Education ,” a diabolically smart true-life crime drama that stars Hugh Jackman in his best performance since “The Prestige,” is how it manages to balance that asymmetry in the most savage and softhearted of ways, inviting sympathy for the devil even after it convinces you why he should go to hell.

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Heavy with poisoned humor and as panoramic as Finley’s “ Thoroughbreds ” was laser-focused, “Bad Education” is in no hurry to reveal the full picture; watching the first hour of the movie, it’s hard to imagine how this seemingly benign story of suburban malfeasance could possibly explode into the biggest embezzlement scandal in the history of the American school system. But the pieces are there from the moment the film starts, buried just under the sand. Screenwriter Mike Makowsky — whose script is a well-calculated masterclass in narrative economy — takes us back to the Long Island high school where he was a student in 2002.

From the looks of things, that seemed like a great time to go there. Facebook hasn’t been invented yet, college early-admission rates are soaring, and the cash-flush administration is about to pass a budget that allocates $7.5 million for a useless but presumably cool-looking “skybridge.” They’ve earned it. When “Bad Education” begins, Roslyn, New York, is the number-four school district in the entire country, and much of the credit for that belongs to the man, the myth, the legend — Dr. Frank Tassone (Jackman).

It’s rare to see people react to a superintendent like he’s — let’s go with a 2002-appropriate reference — one of the All-American Rejects, but it’s basically pandemonium whenever this guy appears before the PTA. And can you blame them? This is the guy who’s going to get their kids into Yale, even if he has to write all their recommendations himself (Frank never forgets a student). He’ll grant your son extra time on a test if you ask him nicely, he’ll join you for an extracurricular discussion about Dickens at an otherwise all-moms book club, and he won’t even embarrass you when you try to kiss him in the kitchen after everyone else has gone home. Besides, any man that handsome — he’s a dead ringer for P.T. Barnum! — is probably used to being flirted with by now, and there’s a tantalizing layer of sadness beneath that perfect head of slicked-back hair. Frank has been a widower for as long as anyone can remember, but he’s still never seen without his wedding ring.

This may not sound like a particularly engaging world, and “Bad Education” resists the temptation to sex it up for the sake of things, but Finley’s rigid compositions and Lyle Vincent’s gliding camera moves galvanize Frank’s administrative fiefdom with a sense of absolute purpose. The office is a well-oiled machine. Frank and assistant superintendent Pam Gluckin (an excellent Allison Janney , as if there’s any other kind) are a perfect twosome, even if she tantalizes him with the carbs she’s sworn off. Even the millionaire school board president (Ray Romano) is thrilled. God is in his heaven, and all is right with the world.

Except, it isn’t. And it’s not the leak in the high school’s hallway ceiling. Secret lives and brazen incongruities abound. In a film where even the most innocent scenes crackle with nervous energy and even frustrated erotic tension, a chance Las Vegas encounter between Frank and an old student (Rafael Casal) is electric with a where-else-could-this-be-going intensity. Your first inclination will probably be to pity Frank for feeling like he needs to live in the closet. Is this the mask that always seems like it’s about to slip off his face? Did his wife know when she was alive?

Meanwhile, back on the ranch, an intrepid student reporter (“Blockers” and “Hala” actress Geraldine Viswanathan , continuing to strike the right balance in every part she plays), is writing a story about the skybridge. That wouldn’t be a problem if Frank hadn’t encouraged her realize her full potential and not settle for a puff piece; it wouldn’t be a problem if Pam’s idiot son (hopelessly typecast “American Vandal” star Jimmy Tatro) hadn’t bought hardware supplies on the corporate card she’s been using to steal money from the school for years. Janney, who affects a hard Long Island accent that resists parody even during her funniest scenes, affects the part of a wounded lioness; survival is top priority, but it’s not that simple. Pam isn’t a sociopath, just someone with a warped perception of what’s best for everyone. And she’s about to be the victim of a generational reckoning that she never thought necessary.

She isn’t the only one. “Bad Education” always finds its way back to Frank, but Makowsky’s patient script has a knack for catching the superintendent unawares. Here is someone who doesn’t have the good sense to realize that he’s the main character of a movie; someone who thinks that he’s always just outside the eye of the storm. That misperception gives Jackman the space needed to be life-sized in a way that his “bigger” roles seldom have.

This is the most human performance he’s ever given, wrapped in translucent vanity and cut with finely sliced layers of doubt and denial. Whether locked in an oppressive close-up (the vibrating film stock reacting to even the most imperceptible muscle twitch) or trying to wrestle back control of Frank’s domain, Jackman always threads the needle between shock and showmanship. Through him, Frank seems both innocent and guilty at all times, and the actions he’s able to justify (good optics sometimes require bad choices!) steer him right into his blind spots. Early in the film, Frank tells a struggling lower schooler that he was also bad at math, and now look at him: He’s the guy who designs the math curriculum. The tragic thing about Frank — and the most brilliant thing about “Bad Education” — is that he honestly doesn’t understand why that might not add up.

“Bad Education” has some blind spots of its own, not least of which is a reluctance to dig into Frank’s stunted desire for upward mobility. He doesn’t want to be richer, but he still resents the fact that he makes a little bit more than a teacher’s salary while his boss is a multimillionaire; affluent local parents lean on Frank like every test their kids take is a matter of life and death, and they don’t even bother to say thank you once the college acceptance letters go out. “Bad Education” is appreciably embittered about teachers and on the school administrator’s behalf, but the film is doing so many different things — and juggling enough different tones to make Bong Joon-ho blush — that it has to squeeze the distance between its peaks and valleys. Michael Abels’ jangly, effective score sounds like a malfunctioning factory assembly line, and the disorder is such that Finley can’t spare the extra moment he needs to explore the relationship between the underpaid faculty and the wealthy community they serve.

However disappointing it might be that “Bad Education” is too delicate (and true) to really go wild and let Finley indulge in the flamboyance that made “Thoroughbreds” such a wicked treat, this is a young director who can see the whole chess game 20 moves in advance. Whatever compromises he makes are excused and then some by a remarkable third-act scene that defies every rule about conventional filmmaking — a wordless and shockingly moving dance number so human and desperate that it makes you take all your own judgments with a grain of salt. The “Nightshift” sequence from Claire Denis’ “35 Shots of Rum” may never be equalled, but Finley comes awfully close. Dr. Frank Tassone deserves what he gets, but — for at least one perfect moment — we’re all invited to wonder if he truly gets what he deserves.

“Bad Education” premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival. It is currently seeking U.S. distribution.

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Bad education.

Directed by Cory Finley

Some people learn the hard way.

A superintendent of a school district works for the betterment of the student’s education when an embezzlement scheme is discovered, threatening to destroy everything.

Hugh Jackman Allison Janney Geraldine Viswanathan Alex Wolff Rafael Casal Stephen Spinella Annaleigh Ashford Ray Romano Hari Dhillon Jeremy Shamos Stephanie Kurtzuba Catherine Curtin Kathrine Narducci Ray Abruzzo Kayli Carter Jimmy Tatro Welker White Calvin Coakley Sung Yun Cho Justin Swain Laura Patinkin Brent Langdon Tia DeShazor Victor Verhaeghe John Scurti Brian Sgambati Peter Appel Darlene Violette Natasha Goss Show All… Jorge Chapa Jane Brockman Larry Romano Madeleine Grace Pace Robert 'Toshi' Kar Yuen Chan Finnerty Steeves Dina Pearlman Michael Jay Henry Steve Routman Rene Ojeda Miriam Silverman Gino Cafarelli Pat Healy Will Meyers Jane Ackermann Adriana Callori Doris McCarthy Giuseppe Ardizzone

Director Director

Cory Finley

Producers Producers

Oren Moverman Julia Lebedev Eddie Vaisman Fred Berger Brian Kavanaugh-Jones Mike Makowsky Jeffrey Penman

Writer Writer

Mike Makowsky

Original Writer Original Writer

Robert Kolker

Casting Casting

Ellen Lewis Kate Sprance

Editor Editor

Louise Ford

Cinematography Cinematography

Lyle Vincent

Assistant Directors Asst. Directors

Peter Thorell John Silvestri

Executive Producers Exec. Producers

Leonid Lebedev Caroline Jaczko

Lighting Lighting

Jerad Molkenthin

Camera Operators Camera Operators

Matt Fleischmann Aileen Taylor

Production Design Production Design

Meredith Lippincott

Art Direction Art Direction

Set decoration set decoration.

Michael Nallan

Special Effects Special Effects

Zachary Maggio

Visual Effects Visual Effects

Robin Scott Graham Matt Akey

Title Design Title Design

Teddy Blanks

Stunts Stunts

Giuseppe Ardizzone Stephen A. Pope Nitasha Bhambree Chris Barnes Derek Johnson Mark Fichera Noelle Therese Mulligan

Composer Composer

Michael Abels

Sound Sound

Ric Schnupp Gene Park Ken Ishii Don White Jenna Dalla Riva Davi Aquino Goro Koyama Sandra Fox Andy Malcolm Kevin Schultz Colin Alexander Jack Heeren Chelsea Body

Costume Design Costume Design

Alex Bovaird

Makeup Makeup

Leo Won Björn Rehbein Alberto Machuca

Hairstyling Hairstyling

Jerry Popolis JT Franchuk Mandy Lyons Jill Crosby

Sight Unseen Pictures Automatik Entertainment Slater Hall Pictures

Releases by Date

08 sep 2019, 07 oct 2019, 12 nov 2019, 07 sep 2020, 25 apr 2020, 26 apr 2020, 30 apr 2020, 17 may 2020, 18 may 2020, 05 jun 2020, 22 jun 2020, 11 jul 2020, 25 aug 2020, 13 sep 2020, 23 sep 2020, 12 mar 2021, 08 sep 2020, 16 sep 2020, 23 jul 2020, releases by country.

Digital 12 HBO Brasil
Premiere Toronto International Film Festival
Premiere Deauville American Film Festival
Digital OCS
Physical 10 DVD
Physical Blu-ray

Netherlands

Premiere Camerimage International Film Festival
Digital 16 HBO
Premiere 15 London Film Festival

108 mins More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by demi adejuyigbe ★★★★ 9

Watched this with friends over facetime and said “Oh man, I live for this shit” out loud several times. Probably because I’m drunk. But hey- I live for this shit!!

Love a crime drama, especially when it’s in a school location. This shit is Wolf of Wall Street without any of the glamour. I also loooove the way this movie is shot. And absolutely love Allison Janney, and Geraldine Viswanathan, and Rafael Casal, and Alex Wolff- and TRULY LOVE my boy Hugh Jackman. God I love Hugh Jackman!!! I’m a Huge Jack-fan!!! Aaaand post review!!

Review by Karsten ★★★★ 15

Cory Finley is Yorgos Lanthimos in day mode and that’s a great thing. After Thoroughbreds I was anticipating what he’d do next and this makes me super excited for the NEXT thing he does. His tone is starting to form a voice of it's own in Bad Education, balancing crime and humor in a way that never gives you a moment to breathe.

The specific shade of blue in practically every shot of this film gives off a specific feeling of prestige that, when mixed with the meticulous framing, brings in that teaspoon of underlying guilt. As though things are almost too perfect. Also fantastic performances from everyone involved, Hugh Jackman clearly being a standout. Couldn’t post this review without mentioning that.

Don’t get me wrong, Onward being at the top of my 2020 list wasn’t a bad thing, but it feels good to have a favorite movie of the year that I actually feel good about recommending to people.

Review by gal pacino ★★★½ 13

out of all the movies about being gay and doing crime titled Bad Education , this one’s second best!

Review by Jay ★★★½ 6

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

this one goes out for every gay student who wanted to fuck their english teacher

Review by Patrick Willems ★★★★ 3

Such a thrill when a movie weaponizes Hugh Jackman's showmanship

Review by davidehrlich ★★★★ 14

With that in mind, it’s strange that, as Americans, we still tell ourselves that corruption is usually a…

Review by Dawson ★★★★½ 9

can we all agree that films set in the early 2000s are period pieces now

Review by Jim Cummings ★★★★★ 9

There's nothing useless in this film, each thing in its place is best, and what seems but idle show, strengthens and supports the rest. I love love loved this movie.

Review by ♦️•Lily•💋 ★★★★★ 3

I believe in be gay do crime films supremacy

Review by Lucy ★★★★ 1

“it’s only a puff piece if you let it be a puff piece”

thoroughbreds is still one of my favorite movies of the 2010’s so i’m elated that this delivered

Review by Scott Tobias ★★★★ 3

Second viewing. What struck me this time is how much sympathy the film extends toward the administrators who embezzled millions from the Roslyn school district. Key theme here is the corruptibility of adulthood, that slippery slope of compromising here and there until you’re all the way gone.

Review by Ayo Edebiri ★★★★½

I don’t know if this was Hugh Jackman’s dream role for himself but it was certainly MY dream role for Hugh Jackman.

Everyone’s incredible.

Also I like that Cory Finley seems invested in making movies with interesting, complicated women!!

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Metacritic reviews

Bad education.

90 Variety Peter Debruge Variety Peter Debruge Bad Education doesn’t shy away from the humor of the situation, but it doesn’t go for the cheap laughs either.
85 Vanity Fair Richard Lawson Vanity Fair Richard Lawson Bad Education (which honestly isn’t a great title for this movie) is an arresting, nuanced depiction of insatiable want, of the bitter fact that reaching for things is often more instinctual, more human, than holding on to what we’ve already got.
83 IndieWire David Ehrlich IndieWire David Ehrlich However disappointing it might be that Bad Education is too delicate (and true) to really go wild and let Finley indulge in the flamboyance that made “Thoroughbreds” such a wicked treat, this is a young director who can see the whole chess game 20 moves in advance.
83 The Playlist Charles Bramesco The Playlist Charles Bramesco Jackman shines, teasing us with suggestions of just how deep his performance runs.
83 The A.V. Club A.A. Dowd The A.V. Club A.A. Dowd The strength of Jackman’s performance is that he hoodwinks us with his decency.
80 The Hollywood Reporter Jordan Mintzer The Hollywood Reporter Jordan Mintzer It’s perhaps less flamboyantly enjoyable than Finley’s first feature, but it also digs deeper into the souls of its characters, asking how a few people meant to ensure the pedagogy of hundreds of children could flunk out so badly.
80 Time Stephanie Zacharek Time Stephanie Zacharek Bad Education is a story of small-town villains who just can’t help themselves, and it’s fun to see how their own carelessness trips them up. These are people we can’t trust, played by actors we trust implicitly. Why not be flimflammed by the best?
75 The Film Stage Jared Mobarak The Film Stage Jared Mobarak Bad Education is a roller coaster ride from start to finish as the surface sheen of success is peeled back to reveal the proverbial bodies buried to achieve it.
60 The Guardian Benjamin Lee The Guardian Benjamin Lee 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.
60 Screen Daily Tim Grierson Screen Daily Tim Grierson Hugh Jackman commits fully to his role as a vain superintendent trying to stay two steps ahead of his lies and self-delusion. Ultimately, though, the character and themes feel a little too simplistic — a movie’s paltry attempt to explain the inscrutability of human nature, which is so interesting precisely because it’s so mysterious.
See all 29 reviews on Metacritic.com
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Bad Education

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 .

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
Louise Ford

Cinematographer

Lyle Vincent
Michael Abels
Mike Makowsky

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Bad education (2019).

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Some people learn the hard way.

A superintendent of a school district works for the betterment of the student’s education when an embezzlement scheme is discovered, threatening to destroy everything.

Cory Finley

Mike Makowsky

Top Billed Cast

Hugh Jackman

Frank Tassone

Allison Janney

Pam Gluckin

Geraldine Viswanathan

Rachel Bhargava

Nick Fleischman

Rafael Casal

Kyle Contreras

Stephen Spinella

Thomas 'Tom' Tuggiero

Annaleigh Ashford

Jenny Aquila

Big Bob Spicer

Hari Dhillon

David Bhargava

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A review by JPV852

Written by jpv852 on september 2, 2020.

Decent true crime drama that's not terribly engaging but at least Hugh Jackman was great as usual. Not sure I'll remember a whole lot but probably worth a rental. 3.25/5

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Original Language English

long island, new york
based on true story
embezzlement
based on magazine, newspaper or article

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What it's about.

Hugh Jackman, Allison Janney, and Ray Romano star in this true story of a big academic corruption case. Hugh Jackman is (of course) excellent as a successful and dedicated superintendent with a complicated personal life. However, when a curious student with the school journal starts digging around in a project he promotes, she uncovers what will become the largest public school embezzlement in the history of the U.S.

The performances stretch the story to its full potential, as this movie would be nothing without its incredible cast. It should be watched for the acting. Eventually, it suffers from a problem common to all movies based on newspaper articles: the story can be told in a single article.

Good film, I love Allison Janney!

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Bad education.

Common Sense Says
Parents Say 1 Review
Kids Say 2 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

By Kelly Kessler , based on child development research. How do we rate?

Tragic story of church's betrayal; adults only.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 18+?

Faux nudity through the design of a drag queen's beaded dress, partial male

Characters drink until incapacitated and snort and shoot illegal drugs (but suff

Sexually vulgar language.

Murderous neck breaking.

Any Positive Content?

This movie is filled with bad people. Main characters abuse drugs and each other

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Faux nudity through the design of a drag queen's beaded dress, partial male nudity, relatively graphic gay sex, suggestions of child molestation.

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

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Characters drink until incapacitated and snort and shoot illegal drugs (but suffer the consequences). A main character overdoses on heroin.

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

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

Violence & Scariness

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

Positive Messages

This movie is filled with bad people. Main characters abuse drugs and each other. Characters with whom we are supposed to identify lie, murder, and blackmail. As few really end up being happy, the film does not seem to highly promote this type of behavior. No one really benefits from bad behavior.

Parents need to know that this is a dark and tawdry film. Main characters are junkies, pedophiles, and murderers. The film deals with molestation within the Catholic Church, and all in all presents the church in a negative light. Parents should also be note that the film centers around the life of a molested boy turned junkie transsexual. It includes scenes of graphic gay sex and vulgar language. It's not appropriate for anyone under 17. (Note: This film is in Spanish with English subtitles.) To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Kids say (2)

Based on 1 parent review

What's the Story?

Interweaving a priest's betrayal and a brother's secret with a tragic story of lost youth, BAD EDUCATION presents a complex story within a story (within a story). Spanish filmmaker Enrico Goded (Fele Martínez) finds himself stumped while searching for his next film subject. When a man calling himself Ignacio Ramirez (Gael García Bernal)--Goded's first love and the boyhood victim of a lascivious priest -- walks back into his life, fact, fiction, greed, lust, and art collide. Goded begrudgingly agrees to produce, direct, and adapt Ignacio's short story chronicling the boys' early love and the author's abuse at the hands of Father Manolo (Daniel Giménez Cacho). In the meantime, he must contend with a stream of secrets held by the man calling himself "Ignacio." Ultimately, Bad Education is a tale of love, lust, abuse, deceit, and the ambiguous role of art -- confessional, weapon, or opportunity.

Is It Any Good?

This excellent but weighty quasi-autobiographical film follows on the heels of Pedro Almodóvar's 1999 Academy Award winning film All About My Mother ( Todo sobre mi madre ). The director spent ten years working on Bad Education . While loosely based on his youth in a Catholic boarding school, Almodóvar says he spent years reworking the story to distance it from his own life. (The filmmaker acknowledges a childhood fear of priests, but says he suffered no sexual abuse.) All in all, he created a gorgeous film that beautifully weaves in and out of past and present and fact and fiction, often creating momentary vagaries of time and space.

Because this film deals with adult themes that are inappropriate for kids, parents are better off sharing this with mature older teens only.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about issues such as the pressures of small town living, the torture of keeping secrets, honesty, and tolerance. The bad behavior of the film's characters can produce much conversation. The film can also spark conversations about art. How can art -- writing or filmmaking -- function therapeutically? Also, how would this story have been different if set in the United States?

Movie Details

In theaters : November 19, 2004
On DVD or streaming : April 12, 2005
Cast : Fele Martinez , Gael Garcia Bernal , Javier Camara
Director : Pedro Almodovar
Inclusion Information : Gay directors, Latino actors
Studio : Sony Pictures
Genre : Drama
Run time : 105 minutes
MPAA rating : NC-17
MPAA explanation : a scene of explicit sexual content.
Last updated : January 29, 2024

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FictionMachine.

REVIEW: Bad Education (2019)

Superintendent Frank Tassone (Hugh Jackman) supervises a hugely successful school district in Long Island with the support of his deputy Pam Gluckin (Allison Janney). When a reporter for a school newspaper (Geraldine Viswanathan) discovers financial irregularities, it sparks off one of the largest education scandals in US history.

Discussing the merits of Bad Education requires giving the game away in terms of the film’s plot, so unless you are already familiar with the details of this scandal – it was covered extensively in the US press at the time – you may wish to simply take the recommendation to check it out and stop reading right here.

This is a film driven by performances. In particular it offers a genuine tour-de-force for Hugh Jackman, who is often trapped between two personas – grim Wolverine Jackman and breezy musical theatre Jackman. Bad Education offers a distinctive and well-rounded character with a refreshing complexity. It begins by reflecting Tassone as a smart, wonderfully groomed crusader for the benefit of his students. He wants the best for all high schoolers under his watch, and takes time to know their names and to individually encourage them to succeed. He is popular with the district school board, the parents, and the students. When student journalist Rachel Bhargava (Viswanathan) begins to learn uncomfortable truths about Tassone’s paradisic reputation, a different man is revealed. He is vain, corrupt, and even cruel when his career is threatened.

The beauty of it all is that both versions of Tassone are real: one is not a mask for the other, but rather they are two ends of the same complicated person. It presents a real challenge for Jackman’s performance, and in capably combining the two facets Jackman delivers what is likely the performance of his career. In all honesty there is no real mystery to be found in Bad Education . As soon as the idea of embezzlement is raised, it is obviously where the money has gone. The actual appeal of the film is not the story, but how its characters negotiate it.

Jackman has great support. Allison Janney is such a talented actor that praising her work feels like stating the obvious. Geraldine Viswanathan is excellent as Rachel Bhargava, following up on promising work in the comedy Blockers (2018) to confirm she’s one of the more interesting performers out there at the moment. A real surprise is Ray Romano, popular sitcom star, who showcases an unexpected gift for drama.

This is a realistic, intelligent drama with a strong cast and a brilliantly flawed protagonist. It feels timely and relevant, but most of all it simply makes for top-notch smart entertainment.

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Critic’s Pick

‘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.)

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Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Bad Education’ on HBO, a Funny White-Collar-Crook Bio Featuring Hugh Jackman’s Best Performance Yet

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Bad Education (2019)

Writer Mike Makowsky was a firsthand witness of sorts to the real-life events inspiring Bad Education , which debuted at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival and now sees wide launch via HBO. He was a six-year-old student in Roslyn Public Schools when he first met Frank Tassone, and witnessed firsthand how revered and influential the superintendent was — until he was busted in 2004 for embezzling millions from the district, engineering “the largest school theft in American history.” With Makwosky’s close ties to the saga, and Hugh Jackman and Allison Janney cast as leads, will the movie be more than just another based-on-a-true-story story?

BAD EDUCATION : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Roslyn High School is fourth in the country in college-acceptance rates. Fourth! And it’s all due to Frank Tassone. He meticulously grooms himself in the morning, spritzing cologne on his neck and plucking stray nose hairs. He walks into his office, decorated with silver balloons shaped like 4s, a “snow day magic wand” and issues of Life Extension magazine. He says absolutely perfect things to a helicopter parent hyperventilating about her son’s troubles in school. He inspires a young journalist from the school paper to write more than just a “puff piece” about the school’s multimillion-dollar skywalk project. He’s thanked with a basket of candy from local real estate developers, who love him for making the district great and therefore inspiring skyrocketing property values.

At lunchtime, Frank sits in the football-stadium bleachers with assistant super/business manager Pam Gluckin (Allison Janney). He laments the health-food smoothie he’s consuming. “I would kill somebody for a carb right now,” he says, and she feeds him a big honking bite of her pastrami-on-rye. He leads the local ladies’ book club, and attendees didn’t even read the selection. They’re in awe of him, in his crisp light-blue oxford with white collar and cuffs adorned with fancy cufflinks. He offers to help with the dishes, and the hostess leans in, but he leans away. The memory of his late wife is too fresh, he says.

He goes to Vegas for a conference, and dutifully attends snoozy lectures while his colleagues gamble. Afterward, he sits down for a drink and recognizes the bartender: Kyle Contreras (Rafael Casal), a former student from 15 years ago when he taught English. Frank remembers his name, because he remembers everybody’s name, because he and Gluckin stay at work late so she can quiz him on everybody’s name. He and Kyle have dinner, and then go back to Frank’s hotel room and make out and then the movie cuts away. Hey now.

So about that young journalist, Rachel (Geraldine Viswanathan). She’s no longer OK with writing a crappy puff piece, so she confidently plops down in Gluckin’s office and asks about project budgets and contractor bids. Gluckin is only slightly icy when she tosses Rachel the key to the firetrap basement records room, although if Rachel saw Gluckin’s seaside near-manse and Corvette convertible, she might have even more questions about how a public school administrator’s humble salary can indulge such extravagant tastes. I mean, Gluckin’s husband is a car salesman. Gluckin’s niece (Annaleigh Ashford) is the office secretary who helps Rachel make a zillion photocopies of school records with some big numbers on them, and it seems like only a matter of time before some of the people in charge around there are something that rhymes with “glucked.”

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Remember how Philip Seymour Hoffman totally owned Owning Mahowny , playing a buttoned-up gambling addict who bilked big stacks of cash from the bank he worked for? You don’t? (Does anybody who’s not a movie critic remember?) Well, watch the damn thing, and you’ll see a character who’s pretty much the opposite of Frank Tarrone in a similar stressful situation.

Performance Worth Watching: This is easily one of Jackman’s best performances — possibly THE best, especially in the first act, when he’s sparklingly charming. And the second act, when he tries to keep all the squirming puppies in the box And in the third act, when he shows how a life of subterfuge — sad on one hand, infuriating on the other — can quickly crumble, and he makes a hard left into villainy.

Memorable Dialogue: “Skywalk is big. Gets us to first!”, Frank chirps.

Sex and Skin: None.

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Our Take: Director Cory Finley ( Thoroughbreds ) and Makowsky initially strike the perfect, slyly satirical gettin’-away-with-it tone, then, as soon as Gluckin goes up in flames and locks angry eyes with Frank for throwing her under the bus, seamlessly segue to I-feel-like-I’m-sitting-on-an-atomic-bomb-waiting-for-it-to-go-off suspenseful drama. They nurture uniformly excellent performances, from Jackman’s multifaceted charisma to Janney’s trademark irascibility to Ray Romano’s fluster as the school-board president to Viswanathan’s earnestness, which anchors the story.

The filmmakers cleverly embed character bits in the movie’s little visual details. The way Frank is yanked off a beanbag chair while chatting with sixth-graders so he can be informed of Gluckin’s malfeasance, for example. Or, in a touch of shrewd symbolism, how he carefully applies concealer to his eye wrinkles. Or how Rachel spreads out the school’s sketchy budget paperwork on the floor of her bedroom with a pile of period-specific Beanie Babies watching. This is a terrific movie, smart, character-driven, frequently funny and highly entertaining.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Bad Education bullseyes the sweet spot between realism and elevated drama, making it several cuts above the usual based-on-a-true-story fodder.

Should you stream or skip #BadEducation on @HBO ? #SIOSI #BadEducationHBO — Decider (@decider) April 26, 2020

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com or follow him on Twitter: @johnserba .

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Bad Education (2019)

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The 10 Best Alex Wolff Movies, Ranked

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There is a slew of rising young actors in Hollywood that audiences have their eyes on, showcasing their talent and range by picking unique and exciting projects. One of those is undoubtedly the dynamic Alex Wolff . It doesn’t seem fair to call him a rising star, as he found fame as a child actor in Nickelodeon’s The Naked Brothers Band series alongside his brother Nat Wolff .

However, it is the past decade or so that has really shown his growth as a performer and heightened his reputation in the industry. Wolff has starred in many successful films, ranging from small indies like My Friend Dahmer to giant blockbusters like Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle . He has appeared in both supporting and leading roles in some of the biggest movies over the past couple of years, making him one to watch. These are Alex Wolff's best movies , ranging in genres and scopes but proving he is a compelling and engaging presence on the screen.

10 ‘Old’ (2021)

Directed by m. night shyamalan.

Trent and Maddox looking scared while looking ahead in Old (2021)

M. Night Shyamalan is king when it comes to telling creepy and twisty stories, continuing his comeback streak with the horror-thriller Old . The film follows a family on vacation who visit a secluded beach for a few hours. They eventually discover they are trapped and that the beach is causing them to age rapidly, limiting their lifespan to a single day.

Wolff plays Trent, the family’s son, at the age of fifteen. Trent starts the movie as a six-year-old and ends it as a fully grown adult. Wolff convincingly plays a teenager with a child’s mentality , a feat that could've easily gone wrong, especially while trying to keep the film's suspense. However, Wolff is great in a relatable yet off-putting role that adds to the eerie nature of the film. Old , of course, also features a classic Shyamalan twist near the end , which will delight some and frustrate others.

Not available

9 ‘A Good Person’ (2023)

Directed by zach braff.

Mark and Allison sitting at a bar in A Good Person

Zach Braff directs the drama A Good Person , starring Morgan Freeman and another one of Hollywood’s brightest young actors, Oscar-nominee Florence Pugh . Pugh plays Allison, a young woman with a promising life and a wonderful fiancé. Her world is turned upside down when she is involved in a car accident and kills her future brother and sister-in-law. While trying to deal with her grief, she turns to opioids and forms a serious drug addiction.

A Good Person is a deep exploration of tragedy and sorrow and how people deal with it. Wolff only appears in one scene, playing Matt, a former schoolmate of Allison’s. When they see each other at a bar, Matt taunts her about her substance abuse problem. It is one of the film’s most memorable moments, showcasing Wolff and Pugh playing off each other effortlessly . A Good Person shows Wolff's ability to make his mark on a movie despite having only a few minutes on-screen, a task not many actors can achieve.

A Good Person

8 ‘my friend dahmer’ (2017), directed by marc meyers.

Four teenage boys hide around the corner of a hallway in their school.

The question of whether monsters are born or made is always a topic of interest, and My Friend Dahmer explores it. The film tells the true-crime story of the high school years of notorious serial killer Jeffery Dahmer , played by Ross Lynch . Dahmer is a shy teen who struggles to fit in, but a troubled childhood, questionable obsessions, and an alcohol addiction hint at something more sinister to come in the future.

While the film doesn’t chronicle Dahmer at the height of his sadism, he is shown torturing and hurting animals, which is highly disturbing. Wolff plays John Backderf, Dahmer’s unknowing friend and aspiring graphic artist. The film is based on his graphic novels that chronicle his friendship with Dahmer and shares the film’s title. Wolff brings considerable and much-needed humanity to the movie, acting as an audience surrogate reacting to Dahmer's unsettling presence.

My Friend Dahmer

7 ‘Bad Education’ (2019)

Directed by cory finley.

Alex Wolff wearing glasses and standing in front of school lockers in Bad Education

Bad Education tells a wild, true story that is hard to believe actually happened. Hugh Jackman plays Frank Tassone, a Long Island school superintendent who, along with his assistant Pam Gluckin ( Allison Janney ), puts the school district on the map. However, a student reporter uncovers an embezzlement scheme the pair are hiding, the biggest ever in the education world. To save their reputations, Frank and Pam must cover their tracks.

Biting and entertaining, Bad Education is a pitch-black story about ambition and the dangers of unchecked power. Jackman shines in his lead performance , and the film is darkly shocking and funny at the same time. Wolff plays Nick Fleischman , one of the editors of the school paper who initially breaks the story. It’s only a small role, but Wolff is in good company alongside Jackman and Janney , as well as Ray Romano and Geraldine Viswanathan .

Bad Education

6 ‘jumanji: welcome to the jungle’ (2017), directed by jake kasdan.

Four teenagers looking in the same direction in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

When a new Jumanji film was initially announced, fans weren’t exactly happy. The original movie from the ‘90s starring the beloved Robin Williams is considered a classic with a lot of nostalgia attached to it. A new Jumanji film could have easily been forgettable, but a fresh new story set in modern times was actually a hit.

In the film, a group of teenagers play a video game that sucks them into the world of Jumanji, where they must embody the game’s avatars and win to return home. Wolff plays Spencer Gilpin, the teen who is turned into Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson ’s character, Dr. Smolder Bravestone. While he only appears at the beginning and end of the film, his character arc as Bravestone is crucial to the film’s story and development .

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

5 ‘patriots day’ (2016), directed by peter berg.

Mark Wahlberg sitting as Michelle Monaghan hugs him close to her in Patriots Day (2016)

Patriots Day is based on the true story of the tragic Boston Marathon bombing in 2013, following the aftermath of the incident and the city-wide manhunt to find the terrorists responsible. Mark Wahlberg plays an FBI agent who teams up with the police to bring them to justice opposite Kevin Bacon , Michelle Monaghan , John Goodman , J.K. Simmons , and more.

Patriots Day features one of Wolff’s darkest and most challenging roles to date , playing Dzhokhar Tsarnaev , one of the brothers who perpetrated the bombing. Wolff pulls off his complicated performance, with the film choosing to put more attention on the heroes and power of the human spirit in the midst of such devastation. His participation might be short compared to others in the cast, but Wolff leaves a lasting impression with his cold depiction. Patriots Day is a difficult but rewarding watch that will truly move audiences.

Patriots Day

4 ‘pig’ (2021), directed by michael sarnoski.

Oscar-winner Nicolas Cage has been known to take on daring and unusual roles in his career of late, and one of those can be found in the meditative drama Pig . The actor plays a truffle hunter who was once a renowned chef and now lives alone in the Oregon forest. When his beloved truffle-hunting pig is kidnapped, he must return to civilization in Portland to find her and face his past.

Wolff plays Amir, a young Portland businessman who supplies luxury ingredients to high-end restaurants. Amir helps Rob (Cage) search for his pig, and the pair form a personal and meaningful bond. Cage and Wolff give beautifully nuanced performances and have poignant on-screen chemistry. Pig may be quiet in its approach, but it speaks volumes, largely thanks to Michael Sarnoski 's subtle direction and Cage and Wolff's powerful work.

3 ‘Oppenheimer’ (2023)

Directed by christopher nolan.

Ernest Lawrence and Luis Walter Alvarez talking to Oppenheimer in Oppenheimer

Christopher Nolan ’s historical epic Oppenheimer was the biggest movie of 2023, winning multiple Oscars , including Best Picture. The film is a biopic based on the life of American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer ( Cillian Murphy ), the leader of the Manhattan Project and father of the atomic bomb. Shot specifically for IMAX, the film is a triumphant technical and cinematic experience.

Wolff plays Luis Alvarez , the Nobel-winning physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project with Oppenheimer and other scientists. He is one of many known actors who have a brief supporting role in the film , only popping up in a few scenes yet making the most of his screen time. Wolff shares compelling and engaging scenes with Oscar-winner Murphy and Josh Hartnett , who plays fellow scientist Ernest Lawrence . It's hard to stand out in such a stacked cast, but Wolff certainly makes an impression.

Oppenheimer

2 ‘a quiet place: day one’ (2024).

A bearded Reuben looking shocked and scared amidst a flurry of smoke and fire.

Wolff reunited with Pig director Michael Sarnoski for A Quiet Place: Day One , the prequel to the previous sci-fi horror movies starring John Krasinski and Emily Blunt . Lupita Nyong’o plays the lead role of Samira, who has terminal cancer and lives at a hospice. When New York City is first attacked by the sound-sensitive monsters from the first two movies, she must keep quiet to stay alive alongside friendly stranger Eric ( Joseph Quinn ).

Wolff appears at the start of the movie, playing Reuben, Samira’s nurse. He convinces her to join him and the other patients on a group outing to Manhattan, which is where they are attacked. Wolff is warm and charming in the role , as Reuben shows a lot of kindness to Samira and constantly tries to lift her spirits and be positive. He is also deeply understanding of her reservations and cynicism, too, lending the film a relatable presence that quickly makes audiences feel in the action.

A Quiet Place: Day One

Rent on Apple

1 ‘Hereditary’ (2018)

Directed by ari aster.

Peter wearing a paper crown looking shocked in Hereditary

Highly regarded as one of the best horror movies of the 21st century , A24’s Hereditary is a deeply unsettling piece of work. Annie ( Toni Colette ) and her family are left grief-stricken when her grandmother passes away. As they try to deal with the process, strange and supernatural things start occurring, linked to generational trauma and allowing sinister family secrets to be revealed.

Wolff plays Peter, Annie’s son, who has a deeply fractured relationship with his mother. His heartbreaking and unnerving performance is undoubtedly the best and most complex of his career so far, catapulting him into the conversation of rising young actors in Hollywood. Colette is also phenomenal, depicting grief with pain and fury, thus crafting a layered and challenging portrayal. Their performances were so good that there was much rage when the pair weren’t nominated for Oscars. Hereditary stands as a true modern classic and a testament to Wolff's commitment and intensity on the screen.

NEXT: The Best Supporting Performances in 'Oppenheimer' Ranked

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Movies + TV

Bad Education (2019): Movie Review

“A town is only as good as its school system.” This line, spoken by Hugh Jackman’s character Frank Tassone, very well sets the tone for the entire film which revolves around the cutthroat and ultra-competitive nature of Long Island school districts. Based on the true story of the largest school embezzlement case in US history (with over $11 million dollars misappropriated), “Bad Education” does not hold back at all in telling this story of corruption, and the downfall of a man who was once so beloved by the parents and students he represented as superintendent. In a time marked with so few movies coming out, “Bad Education” acts as a bright star in a dark sky, and is arguably the best film I’ve seen released so far this year.

“Bad Education” takes place in 2002 and follows the story of Frank Tassone, the superintendent of Roslyn School District on Long Island. Ranked #4 in the country, Tassone’s district is edging closer to achieving the #1 ranking that he so desires. And with a new architectural installation called the “skywalk” planned to be built in the high school, it appears that the district might just secure that coveted ranking the following year. However, after one of the school’s administrators is found to have been using school funding for personal reasons, Tassone begins a coverup to keep the beautiful facade of the district intact, so as to not jeopardize the standing of the school. While Tassone tries to keep the secret from getting out by pressuring his peers into keeping quiet, a student reporter named Rachel does some digging into the school’s funding. Soon Rachel realizes that Tassone and the school district he exemplifies might not be as perfect as they outwardly appear to be.

In a year with so few new releases stemming from theaters shutting down due to the coronavirus, “Bad Education” not only delivers a refreshing and compelling story, but one that is also so relevant today. This movie comments on some of the problems that exist in our broken school system, showing just how far administrators will go to keep good appearances. And while the bad guys in the film work for the school district, the parents that pressure them from the outside are not painted in such a positive light either. We still empathize with these school workers, as parents address them heartlessly as if they are not even people but almost as if they’re just objects and instruments in a system. While that does not redeem the actions of the administrators, “Bad Education” does not take the easy route by simply placing blame on the school, but it instead opts for a layered approach and lets no one off easy in the process.

“Bad Education” has a fantastic screenplay and features exceptional nuanced direction from Cory Finley, but its best feature is definitely the performances of its actors. Geraldine Viswanathan plays high school student Rachel Bhargava, who writes the article exposing the misappropriation of school funding. Viswanathan continues her streak of solid performances over the last few years which have showcased her range, and she more than delivers again in this film. Oscar-winning actress Allison Janney plays Pam Gluckin, the first school administrator to be caught embezzling money. Janney truly steals every scene she’s in with her cutting performance and I would not be surprised if she receives award nominations for her relatively small but unforgettable role in this film. The movie’s greatest performance, however, comes from Hugh Jackman in the lead role as the superintendent, Frank Tassone.

In a career that spans decades, Jackman has consistently shown audiences why he remains an A-List star. Although he’ll most likely be remembered for playing Wolverine in the X-Men franchise, I believe his performance in “Bad Education” will go down as perhaps the greatest in his career. Tassone is a man who has painted himself as the perfect superintendent. He remembers all the little details about each and every teacher, student, and parent, and genuinely seems to care about all of their well-being. However, what he cares about most is appearances, which turns out to be his tragic flaw. In many ways, this movie plays out like a Greek tragedy, as the seemingly superior hero’s downfall is wrought by his own hubris and destructive actions. Tassone’s need to appear perfect ends up devastating all he has worked so hard to build. Through clever editing tactics, “Bad Education” brilliantly builds this relationship between Tassone’s own obsession with his physical appearance and his fixation on maintaining positive perception surrounding the school. While on the surface Tassone’s nice suits and carefully groomed hair conjure up an aura of success which mirrors the beautiful outside of the school, we learn as the film progresses that beneath his carefully polished shell he is rather corrupt and immoral, just as the “beautiful” school is deceptively riddled with leaks and mildew within its vast halls.

“Bad Education” has a 1 hour and 48 minute runtime. While it traditionally may be viewed by some as a “slow-burner,” it really exceeds this categorization. The film escalates gradually in fairly exciting ways, making the climax’s ultimate payoff all the more worthwhile. “Bad Education” offers a contemporary character study and a narrative with depth, which works to raise larger questions about our current society and school systems. Be sure to check it out, as it is now available to stream on HBO GO/NOW, Hulu, and Amazon Prime.

With graduation only about a week away, I’d like to end my final review on a personal note. I want to thank The Crescent, its members, and also everyone who has read any of my reviews over the past couple of years. It’s been a pleasure writing articles on what I’m passionate about and I really hope that some of these reviews inspired you to watch some of the many films I’ve discussed. Movies are truly a special thing. They act as a great unifier in a world where so much conflict exists. Film transcends cultural lines and crosses borders, it creates a bond between us which helps us view ourselves as a singular type of person, the moviegoer. The magic of cinema is real and it actually does have the power to make change, from government policy to something even as simple as making one person’s day a bit better. On a final note, I’d like to offer some closing remarks: keep re-watching the films you love, keep viewing new films you’ve never seen, always look to discover more, support your local movie theaters once they open back up, and always remain confident in your taste in movies regardless of what others think of them. Through these simple actions cinema can be kept alive for generations, as a film is nothing without its viewer.

Cover Photo: WorldofReel.com

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Based on a True Story

The perception of perfection, hugh jackman & allison janney: virtual conversation, rotten tomatoes® score.

This is a great film; it will aggravate, amaze, and confound you all at once. Make it a priority to see it the moment it’s out.

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

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...

Bad Education is a criminally entertaining film.

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.

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.

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

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.

Additional Info

Genre : Drama, Comedy
Release Date : September 8, 2019
Languages : English
Captions : English
Audio Format : 5.1

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COMMENTS

Bad Education (2019)
Rated: 4/5 Jun 12, 2020 Full Review Wenlei Ma News.com.au Fuelled by a fascinating story and its sensational performances, Bad Education is a movie worthy of its star-power and ambitions.
Bad Education (2019)
Bad Education: Directed by Cory Finley. With Hugh Jackman, Ray Romano, Welker White, Allison Janney. The beloved superintendent of New York's Roslyn school district and his staff, friends and relatives become the prime suspects in the unfolding of the single largest public school embezzlement scandal in American history.
'Bad Education': Film Review
Hugh Jackman, Allison Janney and Ray Romano star in 'Thoroughbreds' director Cory Finley's second feature, 'Bad Education,' which was inspired by a school district scandal on Long Island.
Bad Education (2019)
My rating 8/10. Bad Education, movie Based on a true story of America's largest school theft, a scandal of 11 million dollars from Roslyn school district. Prime suspects Frank Tassone, Pam Gluckin played by Hugh jackman and Allision Gluckin respectively.
Bad Education
Rated 4.5/5 Stars • Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 08/14/24 Full Review Jerod S With a thick plot and bizarre characters woven into the corruption of the church, bad education is a doozy.
Bad Education
Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Feb 15, 2021. Kshitij Rawat The Indian Express. Bad Education is an engrossing comedy drama. Though it is a comedy and also has many characteristics of an out ...
'Bad Education' Review
The disgraced Oscar winner is precisely the actor a movie like "Bad Education ... 'Bad Education': Film Review Reviewed at Toronto Film Festival (Special Presentations), Sept. 8, 2019. ...
'Bad Education' Review: Hugh Jackman Shines in Brilliant Crime Story
When "Bad Education" begins, Roslyn, New York, is the number-four school district in the entire country, and much of the credit for that belongs to the man, the myth, the legend — Dr. Frank ...
Bad Education (2019 film)
Bad Education is a 2019 American crime drama film directed by Cory Finley and written by Mike Makowsky.It is based on the 2004 New York magazine article "The Bad Superintendent" by Robert Kolker, [1] [2] about the true story of the largest public school embezzlement in American history. [3] It features an ensemble cast including Hugh Jackman, Allison Janney, Geraldine Viswanathan, Alex Wolff ...
Bad Education
Long Island school superintendent Frank Tassone (Hugh Jackman) and his assistant superintendent for business, Pam Gluckin (Allison Janney), are credited with bringing Roslyn School District unprecedented prestige. Frank, always immaculately groomed and tailored, is a master of positive messaging, whether before an audience of community leaders or in an office with a concerned student or parent ...
‎Bad Education (2019) directed by Cory Finley • Reviews, film + cast
Also fantastic performances from everyone involved, Hugh Jackman clearly being a standout. Couldn't post this review without mentioning that. Don't get me wrong, Onward being at the top of my 2020 list wasn't a bad thing, but it feels good to have a favorite movie of the year that I actually feel good about recommending to people.
Bad Education (2019)
29 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com. 90. Variety Peter Debruge. Variety Peter Debruge. Bad Education doesn't shy away from the humor of the situation, but it doesn't go for the cheap laughs either. 85. Vanity Fair Richard Lawson. Vanity Fair Richard Lawson. Bad Education (which honestly isn't a great title for this movie) is an ...
Bad Education movie review & film summary (2020)
Bad Education. Comedy. 103 minutes ‧ NR ‧ 2020. Christy Lemire. April 24, 2020. 4 min read. 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 ...
Bad Education (2019)
Written by JPV852 on September 2, 2020. Decent true crime drama that's not terribly engaging but at least Hugh Jackman was great as usual. Not sure I'll remember a whole lot but probably worth a rental. A superintendent of a school district works for the betterment of the student's education when an embezzlement scheme is discovered ...
Bad Education (2019) Movie Review
Hugh Jackman, Allison Janney, and Ray Romano star in this true story of a big academic corruption case. Hugh Jackman is (of course) excellent as a successful and dedicated superintendent with a complicated personal life. However, when a curious student with the school journal starts digging around in a project he promotes, she uncovers what ...
Bad Education Movie Review
Our review: Parents say ( 3 ): Kids say ( 2 ): 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 ...
Bad Education Movie Review
Our review: Parents say ( 1 ): Kids say ( 2 ): This excellent but weighty quasi-autobiographical film follows on the heels of Pedro Almodóvar's 1999 Academy Award winning film All About My Mother ( Todo sobre mi madre ). The director spent ten years working on Bad Education. While loosely based on his youth in a Catholic boarding school ...
REVIEW: Bad Education (2019)
REVIEW: Bad Education (2019) The key to basing a film on real-life events is focusing on the elements that matter, and stripping away all of the elements that don't. Screenwriter Mike Makowsky undertakes the process extremely well in Bad Education, while director Cory Finley presents the story on-screen with efficiency and a focus on character.
'Bad Education' Review: Adding Fraud to the Curriculum
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 ...
'Bad Education' HBO Review: Stream It or Skip It?
This is a terrific movie, smart, character-driven, frequently funny and highly entertaining. Our Call: STREAM IT. Bad Education bullseyes the sweet spot between realism and elevated drama, making ...
Bad Education (2019)
It was a true-life lesson in corruption. Dr. Frank Tassone was a smooth, charismatic Superintendent whose leadership guided Roslyn High School to the highest levels of education. He also happened to be part of an $11 million embezzling scheme that rocked the upscale Long Island town. Hugh Jackman stars as Tassone with Allison Janney as his business manager and colleague in crime as they ...
Bad Education (2019)
Nearly wrapping up the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, here's my movie review of "Bad Education"!Bad Education is a 2019 American comedy-drama film...
10 Best Alex Wolff Movies, Ranked
Bad Education tells a wild, true story that is hard to believe actually happened.Hugh Jackman plays Frank Tassone, a Long Island school superintendent who, along with his assistant Pam Gluckin ...
Bad Education (2019): Movie Review
Bad Education (2019): Movie Review. Published on : May 5, 2020 May 4, 2020 by Reece Feldman. WorldOfReel.com "A town is only as good as its school system." This line, spoken by Hugh Jackman's character Frank Tassone, very well sets the tone for the entire film which revolves around the cutthroat and ultra-competitive nature of Long Island ...
Bad Education (2019)
Purchase Bad Education (2019) on digital and stream instantly or download offline. It was a true-life lesson in corruption. Dr. Frank Tassone was a smooth, charismatic Superintendent whose leadership guided Roslyn High School to the highest levels of education. He also happened to be part of an $11 million embezzling scheme that rocked the upscale Long Island town. Hugh Jackman stars as ...

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