Roslyn High School in Long Island is vying to be the best high school in the country – and they seem to be well on the way to achieving that goal, mostly due to the hard work being done by Dr Frank Tassone (Hugh Jackman), the school’s superintendent that embodies the spirit of dedication through his years of commitment to bringing his school to the forefront of education in the region, which he hopes to extend to a national level. His right-hand companion is Pam Gluckin (Allison Janney), a ruthless administrator that has the same desire for dominance as Frank does, and is willing to go to any lengths to prove Roslyn as the best school in the district. They’re both highly admired by colleagues and students alike, who remark on their hardworking attitude and willingness to see them all succeed. However, what no one is aware is the fact that both of them have secretly been funnelling money out of the school’s budget to fund their own lavish lifestyles, with taxpayer money being spent on enormous house remodellings, expensive suits and a bevvy of cosmetic surgeries. For Pam, this spending is only a brief loan that she is willing to give restitution for eventually, which turns out to be far less likely as the spending becomes out of control. However, Frank sees this as a necessary way to spend the money, as it improves his image, which filters down to how he runs the school – however, as the story gradually develops, mainly due to the hard work done by attentive young student journalist Rachel (Geraldine Viswanathan), Frank finds himself rapidly losing the respect he’s grafted for years to achieve. This isn’t even a matter of his reputation eroding, his very freedom begins to be called into question, and those around him start to realize the monumental differences between appearance and reality.

Bad Education is one of the year’s most surprising films – a darkly comical true-crime tale that proves that reality can often be stranger than fiction, its a film that brings together numerous talented individuals, including a cast filled with veterans giving some of their best work interpreting an outrageous script, while under the guidance of Cory Finley, who continues to prove himself as one of this generation’s most interesting young talents, after his directorial debut with the incredible Thoroughbreds a few years ago. A satirical comedy that does not avoid looking at some serious issues, which manifest in some truly remarkable moments of quiet sincerity and heartbreaking pathos, Bad Education is a slow-burning film that takes its time to establish a pace and tone, but once it has the audience in its clutches, it is singularly impossible to deny the immense might of this irreverent crime thriller. The discussion evoked by a film like this often means more than the actual content that serves as the vessel, so it’s a great relief (and an even greater surprise) that this film wasn’t just an unhinged dark comedy, but rather one that carefully measures its use of humour, utilizing it as a tool to convey a certain underlying message, rather than just launching us into a comedy of unrestrained absurdity (as would be suitable for a story with such a ludicrous outcome) without providing some kind of emotional heft to what eventually becomes what I can say without any hesitation, one of the year’s most quietly fascinating works of filmmaking, one that extends beyond the confines of medium or genre, and turns out to be a truly wonderful surprise in numerous ways.

Quite frankly, if there was any doubt that Hugh Jackman was an actor of considerable talents, Bad Education is the final piece of evidence that proves otherwise. In a career that has stretched across decades, taking him from stage to screens of varying sizes, he finally delivers the performance that solidifies his status as not only one of the most fundamentally gifted movie stars working today, but as an immensely interesting character actor as well, someone who is not weighed down by the role that quite literally saw him breaking a world record, but rather one who goes in search of fascinating roles that challenge him as a performer. The role of Dr Frank Tassone is one that would be a great part for any actor, but few seem better suited to him than Jackman, who has made a career from playing layered characters, particular since he’s an actor who has been impossible to pin down for nearly a quarter of a century – he’s beyond a versatile performer and has become something of a chameleonic character actor disguised as a mainstream movie star, which is precisely what makes his work here not only one of his personal triumphs, but also one of the year’s very best performances. No one could have conveyed the rage and deception that is quietly simmering under the enthusiastic, upbeat persona he has adopted, to the point where its become indelible of his personality. Frank is a conflicted character – he’s leading multiple lives, hiding each aspect of his complex existence from the various individuals who fall under his magnetic persuasion, ultimately resulting in him winning the trust of everyone, whether or not they even realize it. While it would be bizarre to call this a revelatory moment of Jackman, who has given some towering performances in the past, Bad Education represents a rebirth for the actor in this post-blockbuster era that has compelled him to seek out many more fascinating projects that not only play on his existing talents but forces him into extending himself and finding new ways to impress us along the path.

However, Bad Education is not restricted to Jackman’s powerhouse performance and works as a terrific ensemble piece as well. A large portion of the film is shared between Jackman and Allison Janney, who gives yet another tremendously entertaining performance that proves her to be one of the most gifted character actresses working today, a fact that has become indisputable after decades of travailing through the industry. In the role of Pam Gluckin, Janney is given the gift of another larger-than-life character, a woman who undergoes the most spectacular downfall after she becomes the sacrificial lamb in an embezzlement plot that serves as the catalyst for the central conflict. Her performance is outrageously funny, with Janney extracting every bit of potential from a character that could have so easily been a thin parody of the archetypal wealthy Long Island career woman, but instead becomes a multifaceted, complex character who commands the screen, both in lighter moments, and those that require Janney to convey an emotional heft that no one expected from this character, but certainly believed the actress was beyond capable of. Smaller roles populate the film and lend it even more nuance – Ray Romano, who has transitioned from being a lovable relic from a bygone era of comedy to one of this generation’s most interesting character actors, able to take on a role that balances both his comedic sensibilities and a kind of disquieting dramatic depth that was rarely seen in his more famous work. The rise of Ray Romano into one of the most sought-after actors in his age group has been truly exciting, and even in a relatively small role such as this one in Bad Education, he continues to prove himself an actor in the midst of another major career revival. Annaleigh Ashford (an actress on the verge of her own breakthrough), Rafael Casal and Stephen Spinella are all fantastic in very small roles, having their own moments of incredible sincerity that progress the plot and make Bad Education one of the strongest ensembles of the year.

Bad Education has a terrific premise, which it conveys with immense simplicity, resulting in a very traditional crime thriller that makes great use of the resources in order to be an entertaining, but not necessarily revolutionary, addition to the genre. Much like the director’s previous film, it’s a character-driven piece that earns its value from the performances and how Finley shepherds some truly moving portrayals from his cast, who in term surrender themselves to the bizarre but effective text that guides the film. There was very little doubt that this material would not have been the subject of an acidic dark comedy – the story of Frank Tassone is almost too bizarre to be true, and thus it would’ve been impossible to execute this story had it not been for the darkly comical sense of humour employed to portray these events. However, Finley finds the perfect balance between the genres, establishing a very interesting tone that finds the humour in this ridiculous story but not through abandoning the actual emotional heft. There are many memorable moments in this film, but the montage that serves as the climax of the film, where various characters are arrested for their involvement in the embezzlement scheme, while Frank is on the other side of the country, dancing in a nightclub with his secret boyfriend, is the perfect juxtaposition between outrageous comedy and aching melancholy. Finley puts together something that occurs at the perfect intersection between reality and fiction, and while Bad Education could have easily (and convincingly) been another run-of-the-mill crime comedy that looks at its subject with a combination of eccentric caricatures and enormous flair, the director chooses something a lot more graceful, where the true story is explored with the honesty and authenticity it needed to be as effective as it ended up being, which is an impressive achievement for a film like this.

The truth might of this film only comes in the final few scenes, where the exuberant comedy subsides in favour of exposing the harrowing truth about the situation. This isn’t a film meant to simply represent a single event – rather, it’s a brutal indictment on corruption, power and coercion. The film focuses on individuals who possess a lot of influence and use it in immoral ways, and the director deftly navigates the narrow boundary between making an objective satire that tells a bewildering true story, and a more dire, moralistic drama that takes aim at an entire culture that secretly allows for these events to happen. The story depicted in Bad Education is certainly not the only time such events have transpired – it’s almost a fact that there are people who engage in the same sordid criminality that either have gotten away with it or are inevitably going to be exposed. One of the year’s most uncompromisingly bleak films, but one that does infuse the story with a touch of heartfelt humour, Bad Education is absolutely tremendous. Hugh Jackman has rarely been this brilliant, heading a cast of exceptional actors, all of which play with parts with a blend of exceptional humour and absolute conviction. It’s a film that could easily just fade away into obscurity without the right viewership, as it is a slow-burning, darkly comical film that goes for the subversive satire rather than the bold laughs. It’s intentionally uncomfortable, enormously infuriating and incredibly rewarding since its unique blend of subversive humour and haunting social commentary make for a truly impactful film that takes on massive themes in a spectacularly bizarre way that has all the makings of a future cult classic.