Cinematical

I like Billy Bob Thornton as much as the next person (well, I like him as an actor, anyhow, I don't know the guy personally), but the trailer for his new film, Mr. Woodcock, made me cringe. The premise: Mr. Woodcock (Thornton) is one of those sadistic gym teachers many of us remember from our own school days -- doesn't it seem like the job description for gym teacher back in the day must have included phrases like "must hate kids" and "experience with sado-masochism a plus?" In the trailer, we get to see Mr. Woodcock tormenting the ubiquitous fat kid in gym class -- he is forcing a kid, who is wearing only his tighty-whiteys, to dangle from a pull-up bar while he hurls insults -- and then a basketball -- at him. In front of all the fat kid's peers.

All this is the set-up for the rest of the film, which is about the fat kid, John Farley (Seann William Scott) growing up to be a self-assured author of a best-selling book on releasing painful memories and rebuilding self-esteem, presumably lessons he learned rebuilding his life from the torment of adolescent misery wrought by Mr. Woodcock. John goes home for a visit, only to find that his mother (Susan Sarandon) is engaged to his old nemesis, the Evil Mr. Woodcock, who has not mellowed with age. Presumably at some point in the film, either John will go berserk and beat the ever-living shit out of Mr. Woodcock, thus finally earning his respect, or Mr. Woodcock will learn the errors of his ways and resolve to stop evil gym teachers everywhere from inflicting lifelong pain and suffering on socially inept adolescents. Or some combination thereof.

And I have to say, I felt really sorry for Kyley Baldridge, the poor kid who got signed on to the role of Young John. Yeah, let's take an adolescent boy, already going through the self-esteem and self-doubt issues of that age, and then make him dangle in his underwear while Billy Bob calls him fat and "gelatinous." That's gonna help the kid out when he has to go back to class at the middle school. "Hey, it's Gelantinous Boy! He thinks he's so hot because he was in some stupid movie. Let's beat the shit out of him!"

[ via Movie City News ]