From the beginning of the film, when the premise is laid out - 40 year old angry, vicious man who cares nothing for hurting others including innocent children - I kept wondering: what will be the punchline, i.e., what will be the justification for this guy's atrocious behavior? OK, well, we must wait for almost the entire movie until we find out: it was all about revenge against the man who was the head of the prestigious spelling bee, and, oh, BTW, just happens to be his absentee father. So we're supposed to feel that it was OK that this character, played by Jason Bateman (also written and directed by) was a nasty, self-absorbed, rude, crude, mean, etc. etc. person, in order to give pay back to the long-lost father. Oh, yeah, also are we supposed to feel he's been redeemed because in the end he acts "nice" to the young boy he's "befriended"? This is one of the worst examples I've seen of this kind of thinking, i.e., because one was abused/suffered/traumatized etc. it's a rationale for their ongoing irresponsible behavior. Give me a break...
