Bad Education

This new film, starring Hugh Jackman, premiered at the 2019 Toronto Film Festival along with Jo Jo Rabbit, Hustlers, and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. Lucky for us watching movies at home it was purchased for $20 million by HBO instead of a traditional film distributor.

Bad Education tells the true story of beloved Long Island school superintendent Frank Thompson (Jackman) and Pam Gluckin (Alison Janey) who stole millions from their district.

Jackman, who has played charismatic criminal/con-men before (notably P.T. Barnum and Jean Valjean), sinks his teeth into his first bad guy role. It's a bit jarring to see him play such a deeply unsympathetic character. He gets an A+ for this as does Janey, who is in I, Tonya mode.

I won't spoil the story except to say it's unbelievable and true. Other than serving as a cautionary tale, I'm not sure what a viewer truly  gets out of watching this story play out except that the performances pull you in. But I am sure that is fun to see a new cinematic film nowadays that's not a ten-episode series.

Simply put: Who doesn't need a quality film to pop up on TV about now?

Award potential: Jackman has a showy performance that could land award contention, but with HBO taking this film to TV, he and Janney will be contending for Emmy nominations, not Oscars.

The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.