Behaving Badly (2014)

Reviewed by: Dare Devil Kid (DDK)

Rating: 3.2/5 stars

A quirky comedy, which is quite hilarious in parts, and breezy in others when it doesn't be hilarious. Tim Garrick and Scott Russell's script throws in all the naughty elements for a typical teen comedy, which can take give viewers a nostalgic throwback on some of the fun times during their school and college days.

Garrick also doubles up as the Director, and he handles the material with just the right kind of nonchalance and spice needed to execute a silly, American sex comedy about young adults discovering adventurous things in life and encountering trouble along the way.

Nat Wolff and Selena Gomez just about past muster as the leads, but it's the supporting cast -boasting a string of noted movie and TV personalities - from Mary-Louise Parker, to Elisabeth Shue, Heather Graham, Patrick Warburton, and Dylan McDermott who really throw their weight into the proceedings to elevate what could have been an average, done-to-death teen, sex comedy. By the end of it all, you'll end up quite enjoying "Behaving Badly", and actually be glad that you chanced upon this little known, comedy romp.

Fmovies: Life for high schooler Rick Stevens (Nat Wolff) is going all wrong. His mom tries to commit suicide and "While I'm Dead Feed the Dog" is painted on the garage door. It starts with his crush on school hottie Nina Pennington (Selena Gomez). He loses his virginity to his best friend's mom (Elisabeth Shue). His own mom (Mary-Louise Parker) appears as Saint Lola, the saint of teenage sex. He gets pushed into a bet with the mobster's son about having sex with Nina before Arbor Day. She has just broken up with her boyfriend. She likes Josh Groban and he tries to buy backstage passes from sleazy Jimmy Leach (Dylan McDermott).

This is trying to be a teen sex romp with broad satirical humor. It fails in many different ways. The first is that it fails to make Rick a likeable character. The movie needs to dump on him again and again so that he becomes sympathetic. For all the bad things that is supposed to be happening to him, the first big thing in the timeline is him having sex with his best friend's hot mom. He gets the date with the dream girl too early and too easily. He is too dislikable. Selena Gomez is completely bland as the goody girl. The movie is trying to be crude but it's trying too hard. Everything is ugly. The humor is way off. I don't know that much about director Tim Garrick and his writing partner Scott Russell. They don't have much of a track record but I did see their earlier writing effort, Jailbait. It has the same teen sex romp writing with broad satirical takes. The actors are lower grade, the production is lower, and the level of humor is similar. At least, that one's satire marginally works. None of this one works and it's a grind from the very start. I grew to hate the repeat-o-punchlines. This is wasting the talents of some pretty good actors in the adult roles. It's bad.

Stupidest movie i ever seen, but , oh what a .... Perfect for rainy afternoon

Behaving Badly fmovies. Lately, I've been doing some serious crushing on former Disney star Selena Gomez (as well as a few other post-teen hotties from the same network as well as Nickelodeon,but I won't get into them).Despite the fact that she has poor taste in particular boyfriends,she's definitely talented and quite a looker. But one wonders whether she'll be as popular 5 yrs from now or drop off the face of the earth.you can only go by her singing career(which will likely fizzle out because Disney-based pop has n't much of a shelf-life)and a fledgling acting career.Some advice to Ms. Gomez,rise above the material,cuz whether she likes it or not,she's the main reason for even giving 'Behaving Badly' a second glance.

High schooler Rick Stevens(Wolff)narrates the tale(Ferris Bueller- style)of how he won the heart of his true love Nina Pennington(Gomez)and along the way conquers a pill-popping',Vodka swilling mother(Mary-Louise Parker),stripper older sister(Ashley Rickards),estranged and adulterous father(Cary Elwes),seductress mother(Elizabeth Shue)of his slightly unhinged best bud Billy(Buchanan),vindictive ex(Stowell)of said true love,as well a pervy priest(Jason Lee),pervier principal(Patrick Warburton),shifty attorney(Heather Graham)and down-right sleazy strip club boss(a rare comedic performance by Dylan McDermott)who probably runs the same seedy establishment where his sister part-times.

The film is pretty predictable,since it seems to use cliché's from teen sex comedies of yesteryear,including a ludicrous wager(on how long it takes 'til he beds Nina) Rick makes with a fellow classmate who happens to be the son of a Lithuanian mobster(a plot device i felt superfluous and closely similar to 'American Pie').But this should have been more successful,considering the attractive supporting cast alone.But 'Behaving Badly'does n't quite cut it and IMAO,here's why:Nat Wolff,the obvious protagonist,has the charisma of a wire hanger,after you twist it to snake out your clogged drain.This flick falls in line with previous duds 'Bandslam' and 'I Love You,Beth Cooper',which despite featuring the eye candy of ingénues Vanessa Hudgens(Selena's 'Spring Breakers' co-star)and Hayden Panettiere respectively,had male leads that never endeared you to the story.Wolff comes across rather smug,so it's hard to sympathize with his character and you don't see why Gomez's character would be interested in him(especially when he fails to deliver on backstage passes to the Josh Groban concert).I'll admit that this movie is more enjoyable than the previously mentioned 'Bandslam' and 'Beth Cooper',but at least those two flicks had theatrical releases while this movie,already delayed by nearly 2 yrs,got an iTunes release this month.I think that guy McLovin,from 'Superbad' would have been a better choice for the role of Rick.

As for the rest of the cast,they really shine in their roles and wind up stealing scenes-the adults in particular.You never really buy the Rick/Nina romance so it would've been better served to explore his relationship with his long-suffering mum(Parker also moonlights as Rick's guardian angel(?)of sorts,another subplot that does n't quite work)or his sultry sister,who invites her stripper friends over to the crib in a sequence that reminds me of 'Risky Business'.Going back to Gomez,she's not a terrible actress,as others have described her,but in this particular movie she seems u

The movie start like a normal rom/teen/comedy and after like 10-15 minutes become pure nonsense.

There are a lot of good actors in this movie for some reason, so much good potetial, lost in a terrible terrible project.

This movie is simply badly made, so badly that they even get the timeline events of the story wrong, probably during the editing.

It could have been an average comedy but they made too much errors. This should be put in a manual as an example how not to make a movie. Bad writing, bad directing, bad editing....... this movie is really bad.

Do yourself a favor and search elsewhere, there is nothing good about this one.

Mostly this screwball lewd comedy about a nerd who pursues a girl and a crazy set of events unfold does not work. There are some laugh out loud moments but they are minor ones like the Stanford thing. Also there are such good stars you kind of want to watch to see how they act. The plot isn't convincing in a comical way and the crudeness and vulgarity aren't funny most of the time and border on painful and not even funny juvenile in an American Pie way just painful. Kind of feel terrible for fine actors and actresses like Elizabeth Shue, Dylan McDermott here. Mary Louise Parker surprisingly shows some versatility here, different from her previous roles. Nat Wolff is not charismatic enough a dork to carry off this role. Selena Gomez looks cute enough. Heather Graham is quite funny.

Overall only see it if you are in the mood for a few very crude chuckles.