Jason Bateman directs and stars in Bad Words, a black comedy whose more misanthropic moments push it perilously close to failure. That balance of antisocial misery and heartfelt comedy feels very much inspired by Terry Zwigoff’s Bad Santa; while it does not match that masterpiece in effect, it remains in a laudable second place. I will always take my Hollywood comedies bold and flawed over anodyne and dull.

Bateman plays Guy Trilby, a 40-year-old loser who never graduated from the eighth grade. That failure qualifies him to manipulate a loophole in the rules of a national children’s spelling bee, and compete for the $50,000 dollars in prize money. He is relentless in his pursuit of victory, and not beyond bullying, insulting, and playing mind games with his pre-teen opponents. He is accompanied by journalist Jenny Widgeon (Kathryn Hahn), and actively opposed by spelling bee director Bernice Deagan (Allison Janney). The only major hurdle in Guy’s way is Chaitanya (Rohan Chand), a 10-year-old competitor that seems obsessed with becoming his friend.

There is something I find genuinely odd about spelling bees. They seem a peculiarly American construction, and weirdly obsessed with how to say words so obscure and under-used that no one in broader society is likely to use them anyway. Watching one is like watching a prolonged, repetitive string of party tricks at a party where no one is having any fun. I think that makes it fertile ground for a movie comedy, which can accentuate its innate eccentricities and make fun of its overly serious contestants.

There is also a commendable effort in Bad Words to make its protagonist genuinely objectionable. While there is a purpose behind Guy’s actions, and that purpose does reveal itself as the film goes on, it still demands the audience follow him through some truly repellent behaviours. He is not just mean-spirited and offensive towards the parents – he directly attacks the children with a variety of insults, cruel mind games, and obscene pranks. For a proportion of viewers the film will almost certainly take things too far: for a studio-backed, ostensibly commercial movie comedy, it really does take quite a risk in alienating its audience.

Jason Bateman’s deadpan central performance goes some way to alleviating the problem. He is not necessarily likeable, but he is at least immediately watchable. Some very talented supporting actors lift the tone very well too, including Allison Janney, Kathryn Hahn, and the late Philip Baker Hall. Rohan Chand plays Guy’s excitable young competitor with a lot of energy and charisma: when paired with Bateman they make a surprisingly decent comedy double act. Bateman also works very well opposite Kathryn Hahn: a consistently talented and under-utilised comedic actor.

There is an impressive tight-rope act going on here: pushing taste and audience sentiment to the limit, maybe even a little beyond it, and then pulling back with unexpected moments of heart and humanity. How far your sense of humour goes is really going to determine how much you enjoy Bad Words. For me it’s mean, bleakly amusing stuff. For you it might measure differently.