TIFF19 film review: Hugh Jackman and Allison Janney in BadEducation
An embezzlement scheme whose total take was $11.2 million seems like peanuts compared to Enron, Bernie Madoff or any other billion-dollar fraud of our epoch., it takes on the guise of a real-world morality play where the mighty fall from up high — even if up high means the superintendent seat of a public school district on Roslyn, Long Island.
The man behind all the monkey business was one Frank Tassone , the beloved Roslyn School District superintendent who rules over his fiefdom like a lifelong educator, assuaging the fears of overzealous parents and encouraging his students with generous pep talks. He’s assisted by Pam Gluckin , who minds the budget in the office next door, and flanked by school board president Bob Spicer , who works as a local realtor and sees Frank's success as his ticket to major bucks.
Initially the film’s plotting seems a bit subdued as we follow Frank on his mission to make Roslyn number one in the region, — only in such a location-specific movie could the competing towns of Jericho and Syosset be referred to as “sons of bitches” — watching as he deals with the dull day-to-day duties of running his district.
Things slowly but surely unravel, and then completely fall apart, as we learn that the supposedly grieving widower Frank leads a double life both professionally and personally — the latter when we see him start a fling with a former pupil, Kyle , now working as a bartender in Vegas. Meanwhile, right-hand gal Pam has been doing some unruly things with the official credit card, including making major improvements on a house in the Hamptons that seems way over her pay grade.
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