Jason Bateman directs and stars in this comedy which follows Guy Trilby (Bateman), a 40-year-old school dropout who, after finding a loophole, enters The Golden Quill children's spelling bee and befriends Chaitanya (Rohan Chand), one of his fellow competitors. Due to never having graduated beyond the eighth grade, Guy is able to enter himself into the competition - much to the chagrin of contest officials and the parents of competing children. Meanwhile, Jenny Widgeon (Kathryn Hahn), a local news reporter, attempts to find out Guy's real motivations for entering.