The Bad Education Movie: Is Jack Whitehall the dream teacher?

Well, for those who have no clue, Jack Peter Benedict Whitehall is an English comedian, who also worked as a television presenter. He is, as we can check, an actor, and now co-writer. He’s 27 years old and son of the actress Hilary Amanda Jane (aka Hilary Gish) and the producer/ talent agent and author, Michael John Whitehall.

Besides being funny, he also dates Gemma Chan - the actress who played the lead role Anita in Humans - and credits Jack Dee as his comedy hero. If he still requires more to boost his CV, he was also a former classmate of Robert Pattinson (I think you get to know him pretty well now).

From the series Noah’s Ark (1997), through Comedy Central Presents Jack Whitehall (2011), to an event called The Feeling Nuts Comedy Night (2014) on Channel 4 (raising awareness of testicular cancer), it’s been a long road.

What brought us here, however, was the comedy-drama series Bad Education (2012) on BBC Three, in which he plays Alfie Wickers, a teacher who is “the worst teacher ever to grace the British education system and is a bigger kid than the kids he teaches”. So, apparently the unwritten rule (perhaps written) is that British sitcoms rarely transfer well to the big screen. It may be of no surprise then that this crossover foray into the industry made no difference whatsoever.

The Bad Education Movie (now in the cinemas) plot - apparently originating from a school trip that Jack himself went on - takes place after the class has just finished their GCSE’s. Mr. Wickers decides to take the students to Las Vegas but unsurprisingly the parents go against it. Instead they end up in Cornwall, where a ‘friend’ is having a house party.

Everything looks amazing, everyone’s ready to get smashed and have fun, but Joe’s (one of the students played by Ethan Lawrence) mum Susan (Joanna Scanlan) goes along bossing and dragging them around castles. In the first half of the film the plan is to get rid of Susan, which they accomplish. And that’s when the madness begins. Before he realises, Mr Wickers becomes the leader of a toothless band of Cornish terrorists led by Iain Glen.

Harsh reviews spat quickly around the internet in regards to the movie itself and the use of prosthetic recreations of Jack’s balls on multiple occasions. What looks like a promising plot (debatably) ends up as only confusing and filled with offensive jokes done in bad taste. The critics left disappointed at a poorly structured script and a very poor example of British humour.

However, not dismissing the experts’ notes and opinions, I felt The Bad Education Movie was absolutely hilarious. Besides, I attend the movie premiere at Leicester Square where Jack assured everyone before the movie started that the swan didn’t suffer any damage, despite the disagreement between the two.

He may not have co-written a masterpiece, and his naked bum and testicles is, for sure, a running gag throughout the screen, but it’s by no means filthy, unlike others of its type and has some charm. It’s expected that the jump to the big screen will make a big difference to Jack’s career. Bad teacher, but talented individual!

Truth be told, in this sad world, a bit of Whitehall is always welcomed.

If you haven’t watched The Bad Education Movie, take a look to the trailer below: