Focus Features has released the red-band trailer for Jason Bateman's directorial debut, Bad Words.  The film stars Bateman as the Guy Trilby, a 40-year-old who exploits a loophole to compete in a national spelling bee competition.  Guy has a larger motive than just winning, but his mean-spirited nature allows him to berate and humiliate kids along the way.  It's really funny.  When I saw the film at TIFF, I was worried the trailer would give away too many of the jokes, and this red-band trailer does drop a few of the good ones (especially an insult near the end), but it manages to keep most of them a secret by focusing on Guy's relationship with his competitor Chaitanya (Rohan Chand).

Hit the jump to check out the trailer, and click here for Steve's interview with Bateman at TIFF.  The film also stars Kathryn Hahn, Allison Janney, Ben Falcone, and Philip Baker HallBad Words opens March 21, 2014.

Via Yahoo! Movies.

Here's the official synopsis for Bad Words:

Jason Bateman (Identity Thief) makes his feature directorial debut with the subversive comedy Bad Words. Mr. Bateman stars as Guy Trilby, a 40-year-old who finds a loophole in the rules of The Golden Quill national spelling bee and decides to cause trouble by hijacking the competition. Contest officials, outraged parents, and overly ambitious 8th graders are no match for Guy, as he ruthlessly crushes their dreams of victory and fame. As a reporter (Kathryn Hahn of We’re the Millers) attempts to discover his true motivation, Guy finds himself forging an unlikely alliance with a competitor: awkward 10-year-old Chaitanya (Rohan Chand of Homeland), who is completely unfazed by Guy’s take-no-prisoners approach to life.

Bad Words also stars Ben Falcone (Bridesmaids), Philip Baker Hall (Argo), and Allison Janney (The Help). The original screenplay is by Andrew Dodge, and the producers are Mr. Bateman, Mason Novick, Sean McKittrick and Jeff Culotta. Mr. Bateman is the director of the movie. A Focus Features and Darko Entertainment presentation of a Darko Entertainment/Aggregate Films/MXN production, Bad Words. is MPAA-rated “R” (for crude and sexual content, language, and brief nudity) and has a running time of 89 minutes.