Review: 'Behaving Badly' Starring Selena Gomez and Nat Wolff

A number of really talented people make appearances in the wretchedly unfunny teen sex comedy Behaving Badly; so many that you wonder if a producer has incriminating photos stashed somewhere. Not that there are a lot of expectations for a film so obscure even Selena Gomez's fans don't know it exists, and likely won't have a kind word to say about it even if they do. It's the kind of film where one can sense writer/director Tim Garrick throwing in every half-assed idea he can think of in hopes something works, but when nothing does turning up the raunch is his only fall-back plan.

Nat Wolff, who was excellent as a blind cancer victim in The Fault in Our Stars, must've been blind to agree to this humorless farce that wants to be outrageous and risque but comes up limp. Wolff plays Rick, and in the opening moments we get close-up of his crotch followed by the admission he has somehow contracted crabs. Yep, that's the level of moronic humor that is quickly established and becomes the standard throughout a painful 96 minutes. So what's Rick's deal? He's supposedly a virgin but that's not really a big deal because every hot piece of tail is throwing it his way. That includes his best friend's frisky mom (Elisabeth Shue), a smokin' drug-addled lawyer (Heather Graham), and random prostitutes. His mother (Mary Louise Parker) is a raging drunk, but she also appears as some sort of dominatrix-clad guardian angel. What that's all about is unclear and pointless to the "plot" anyway.

But for all the sex Rick can get he really has eyes for one girl, the saintly Nina (Gomez) who he has had a thing for all his life. She's the model of goodie two-shoes perfection and wholesomeness, certainly too nice for an awkward sex fiend like Rick. Of course she takes a liking to him, anyway, even as he gets neck deep in trouble with the local Mafia. Why's the Mafia in this? You got me. But then again there's not much explanation for Jason Lee appearing as a priest of suspect morals, or Dylan McDermott as a sex-crazed strip club owner. Notice a theme here? Sexual perversion has never seemed so tame, and as Garrick piles on one "outrageous" situation after another it only gets more desperate.

Not helping matters is a completely uninspiring performance by Wolff, and it's hard to tell if he's just bored or terribly miscast. Ultimately it doesn't matter, does it? He actually makes things considerably worse and every scene he's at the center of more painful than the last. Gomez is kind of fun in a squeaky clean misplaced Disney starlet sort of way (kind of like Spring Breakers), but that seems to be the only role she's capable of playing. And I have to admit getting a chuckle from Shue's endless flaunting of her rack, reminding me of her unsung performance in the trashy crime flick, Palmetto. But those are hardly enough reason to suffer through a movie this lazy and lacking in any laughs.  Those who don't run away screaming from Behaving Badly after 10 minutes will spot a brief cameo by Justin Bieber. What drags him into a movie like this? It was shot more than two years ago back when he and Gomez were still a tabloid item. Can't imagine why this has been sitting on the shelf for so long...

 Rating: 1 out of 5

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Selena Gomez and Nat Wolff are 'Behaving Badly' in New Trailer

The month of August has not been nice to Selena Gomez. Last year she appeared in the laughable car chase flick, Getaway, which ended up on the "crap list" for a lot of folks and deservedly so. This summer she's starring in another film that doesn't look so hot, a comedy titled Behaving Badly, and despite a cast of some pretty big names the film is being dumped into limited release with little fanfare.

Shot in only twenty days about two years ago, the film is an adaptation of Ric Browd's novel, While I'm Dead Feed the Dog, and basically this looks like something that should be on the Disney Channel. The Fault In Our Stars' Nat Wolff stars as 16-year-old Rick Stevens who has the hots for Nina (Gomez), but to win her heart he'll have to deal with a whole cast of crazy characters. Heather Graham plays a sexy attorney, Elisabeth Shue a sexy neighbor, Mary Louise Parker a sexy saint, and...well, you probably get the drift. Dylan McDermott, Jason Lee, Gary Busey, and Cary Elwes co-star.

Behaving Badly opens August 1st, directed by Tim Garrick.

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Sure Shots: Guillermo Del Toro; Dylan McDermott; Olivier Megaton

* Back in February we learned Guillermo Del Toro would be producing a CG-animated film titled Day of the Dead, an action-packed love story centering on the Mexican holiday. Fox Animation has now picked it up, renamed it Book of Life, and have slotted it for an October 10th 2014 release date. Jorge R. Gutierrez will direct, and the film will feature a number of high profile international recording artists working on the soundtrack. [THR]

* Dylan McDermott has been chatting up his return to American Horror Story, and in the process he revealed he won't be venturing too far from the genre for his next big screen appearance. He's now joined the cast of Mercy, an adaptation of Stephen King's short story, Gramma. Starring Frances O'Connor, Joel Courtney, and Chandler Riggs, the story follows two brothers who learn that their terminally ill grandmother is a witch whose powers are fueled by an evil pact she entered into years ago. Jason Blum(Paranormal Activity) is producing, with Peter Cornwell(The Haunting in Connecticut) directing and Matt Greenberg writing the script. [STYD]

* The awesomely-named Oliver Megaton(Taken 2) has replaced Nicolai Fuglsigas as the director of Taking Gotham, a $60M action flick based on a script by Thomas Kelly that is based on real life events. It centers on a secret NYPD unit created after a string of brutal bank robberies. The NYPD disavows them after a deadly sting operation, forcing the unit to go underground to clear their names. Production begins in March. [Deadline]

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Dylan McDermott joins Zach Galifianakis and Will Ferrell in Dog Fight

For awhile there it looked like Dylan McDermott was on the cusp of greatness. Like he was going to be the next big star to make the jump from TV to A-list Hollywood status. This was back in the days of his hit legal series, The Practice. But it never really came to pass. Starring in that awful new age western flick, Texas Rangers, didn't help. And other than a decent turn in 2003's Party Monster his resume has been pretty bleak. I mean, The Messengers? Really? Things have been looking up lately, though. I've heard good things about his new FX series, American Horror Story, and now he's locked up a role in the upcoming political comedy, Dog Fight.


Directed by Jay Roach(Meet the Parents), the film stars Zach Galifianakis and Will Ferrell as two political rivals squaring off for votes in a small southern congressional district. Jason Sudeikis is co-starring, with McDermott playing a consultant to Galifianakis' campaign. This may be a comedy, but is this a laugher role? I get the feeling McDermott will be the straight man while Galifianakis acts like a fool. Call it a hunch.

Shooting kicks off next month, with McDermott expected to join some time in December. Other than his weekly TV series, McDermott will likely be seen next in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, starring Logan Lerman and Emma Watson. [Deadline]

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