The Bad News Bears (1976)

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Directed by Michael Ritchie.

Starring Jackie Earle Haley, Walter Matthau, Tatum O'Neal, Ben Piazza, Joyce Van Patten, Vic Morrow.

The success this underdog comedy from director Michael Ritchie almost single-handedly spawned the kids' sports film boom of the 1980s and '90s. When beer-breathed ex-minor-league ball player and professional pool cleaner Morris Buttermaker (Walter Matthau) agrees to coach a little league team in the San Fernando Valley, he soon finds he's in over his head, having inherited an assortment of pint-sized peons and talentless losers. They play well-organized teams and lose by tremendous margins, and the parents threaten to disband the Bears to save the kids (and themselves) any further embarrassment. Buttermaker refuses, though, and brings in a pair of ringers: Amanda (Tatum O'Neal), his ex-girlfriend's tomboy daughter, and Kelly (Jackie Earle Haley), a cigarette-smoking delinquent who happens to be a gifted athlete. With their help, the Bears manage to change their losing ways and qualify for the championship, where they face their arch-rivals, the Yankees. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide

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Reviews and discussions

The Bad News Bears vs The Bad N ...
by analogzombie in analogzombie Blog

loved it.

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"Recently I had the pleasure to see the original Bad News Bears, and the Richard Linklater remake within 2 days of each other. How do they stack up? Well if the Walter Matthau coached team played the Billy Bob Thornton team, it'd be a tie, with both Tanners locked in a death struggle.Watching the original 1976 film I was struck by the amount of subtle rascism, child endangerment and outright viciousness. As compared to its more PC 2005 relative, the original is a lot more honest about the interactions of the kids and they bring a more beliveable performance to the movie. Some aspects were changed for PC reasons. Such as the omission of a scene in the original inwhich the lone black kid strips to his underwear and climbs a tree out of the frustration of losing. His obsession with Hank Aaron is subplanted nicely though, with Mark MacGuire. Making the remake version of his character, as one of the kids puts it, "Oreo".Other changes to the kids include the addition of more ethniciti ... " [More]

Review by All Movie Guide

All Movie Guide

liked it.

Bad News Bears is one of the most delightful blends of family and adult entertainment ever made. The underdog-made-good story may please and kids in the audience, but it's only one facet of the film's entertaining, realistic portrait of little league baseball. The real appeal comes from spot-on performances by Tatum O'Neal and Walter Matthau. Their relationship, as a grizzled divorcé and the pubescent girl trying to make him her father, is finely tuned and immensely enjoyable. Their natural stubbornness yet vulnerability comes through, helping to keep the story out of the realm of the sentimental. The entire script, by Bill Lancaster, is full of authenticity, capturing both the different personalities of the kids and the often embarrassing and bizarre world of Little League. Director Michael Ritchie achieves all of the story's drama without losing any of the innocence of the youngsters. Considering that his three previous films (Prime Cut, The Candidate, and Smile) were all distinctly adult fare, Bad News Bears was a surprising movie from Ritchie. But he brings his mature sensibility to his characters, never expecting them to be perfect but never judging them either. ~ Brendon Hanley, All Movie Guide

Tags: baseball , girl , littleleague , team , underdog
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