The Toronto Film Festival is in full swing and HitFix’s Greg Ellwood have chimed in on a number of films, from “Dallas Buyers Club” to “Enough Said,” while a handful of Telluride players — “12 Years a Slave,” “Labor Day,” “Gravity” (also Venice) have landed as well.

One of the films Greg has been high on is Jason Bateman’s directorial debut, “Bad Words.” Praising Bateman’s transition to feature director (he’s been directing television for years), Greg wrote that the film “will make many wonder if some of [Bateman’s] recent flicks might have actually been even better if he’d been behind the camera instead of just in front of it.” Indeed, with misses like “The Change-Up” and “Identity Thief” as of late, Bateman could certainly use a smash.

Focus Features will be aiming to turn “Bad Words” into just that as the studio acquired the film earlier this morning. Written by Andrew Dodge (and a Black List entry in 2011), it be released worldwide by Focus in 2014.

The official synopsis from the press release:

Mr. Bateman portrays Guy Trilby, a 40-year-old man seeking catharsis in his life. He seizes the ideal that this will come for him through…the National Spelling Bee; after discovering a loophole in the rules, Guy zealously joins the competition and easily outpaces the pre-teen field in match after match. As reporter Jenny Widgeon (Kathryn Hahn of Afternoon Delight) delves into Guy”s story, Guy finds himself forging an unlikely friendship with a competitor, awkward 10-year-old Chaitanya (Rohan Chand of Homeland), which may spell things differently for his future.

Check out Greg Ellwood’s review of “Bad Words” here and stay tuned in to HitFix for more from Toronto as it happens.