After spectacularly losing a local spelling bee as a youngster, the now 40-year-old Guy Trilby is determined to go back and change it. Having developed his spelling ability substantially over the decades, he decides to enter the National Quill Spelling Bee after discovering a loophole which states that anyone past the 8th grade cannot compete. Having given up on academic achievement before he passed 8th grade, the contest's judges struggle to deny him the opportunity to compete despite arrant fury from parents of potential winners who believe that his age now gives him an advantage. Initially rude and insulting towards his pre-pubescent competitors, he soon starts to develop a friendship with Chaitainya; an enthusiastic young boy with no friends who Guy takes under his wing. However, not everyone's happy with what Guy ends up teaching Chaitainya about the world.
This near the mark comedy tackles one man's struggle with his inner child as we work out why he is so intent on reversing his personal failures. It has been directed by main star Jason Bateman ('Arrested Development', 'Identity Thief', 'Horrible Bosses') alongside first-time screenwriter Andrew Dodge. Having premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival, it will be released in the US on March 28th 2014.
Starring: Jason Bateman, Kathryn Hahn, Ben Falcone, Allison Janney, Rachael Harris, Judith Hoag, Philip Baker Hall, Beth Grant, Patricia Belcher, Alexia Pearl, Bob Stephenson, Rohan Chand, Steve Witting, Michael Patrick McGill, Greg Cromer, Jacquie Barnbrook, Ethan Dizon, Janine King, Anjul Nigam, Connor Kalopsis