BATEMAN RULES

"DTF St. Louis" peers into the suburban male psyche.

- BY VINSON CUNNINGHAM

Jason Bateman excels as the Everyman, reeking of ennui and buried impulses.

During a recent episode of “SmartLess,” the podcast that the actor Jason Bateman shares with his industry buddies Sean Hayes and Will Arnett, Bateman chatted amiably with the show’s guest, the business mogul and reality-star supermom Kris Jenner. Jenner told the trio the story of her first encounter with Robert Kardashian, her first husband, who would later come to fame by serving on the defense team for his golf buddy O. J. Simpson. (Bateman: “Is it a meet-cute?”) It was at a horse track. (“I’ve never been to the Kentucky Derby, no, but I met a mint julep once.”) Bateman had been ambling through the interview with a nervous professionalism, pecking away at Jenner with the kinds of questions your best-adjusted friend—or that friend’s dad—might ask. But then, perhaps inspired by the mention of the genteel betting environment of the Derby, he piped up with an intriguing piece of personal history. “I used to have a bit of a fun time with gambling,” he said. “I no longer do.”

Bateman’s curt baritone was the same as it always is: no sorrow or self-recrimination or even rote regret marred his tone. In fact, he sounded sort of peppy, even though he was relaying what might have been a dark glimmer of a sordid arc—too much “fun” followed by a fall. His euphemistic locution was extra funny because it was directed at Jenner, whose public profile carries no hint of ever having had “a bit of a fun time” that didn’t yield a nice paycheck, or at least a helpful hit of press. All efficiency, that Jenner. She didn’t really respond to Bateman’s biographical toss-off.