This page was created on June 19, 2005
This page was last updated on September 6, 2005

—Overview
—Photos
—About this Film
—Spiritual Connections

Review by Jacob Sahms
Review by PapaBear

Dial up modems will take a few moments

Directed by Richard Linklater
Screenplay by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa

Cast (in credits order)
Billy Bob Thornton .... Buttermaker
Greg Kinnear .... Bullock
Marcia Gay Harden
Sammi Kraft .... Amanda Whurlitzer
Ridge Canipe .... Toby Whitewood
Timmy Deters .... Tanner
Carter Jenkins .... Joey Bullock
Brandon Craggs .... Engelberg
Jeff Davies .... Kelly Leak
Seth Adkins .... Mean Yankee
Tyler Patrick Jones .... Timothy Lupus
Jeffrey Tedmori .... Garo
Troy Gentile .... Matthew Hooper
Emmanuel Estrada .... Miguel Agilar
Juan Carlos Estrada .... Jose Agilar
Lisa Arturo .... Peaches
Lizz Carter .... Chandaleir
Carlos Estrada .... Miguel Aguilar
Karen Gordon .... Mrs. Grey
K.C. Harris .... Ahmad Abdul Rahim
Arabella Holzbog .... Shari Bullock
Aman Johal .... Prem Lahiri
Candace Kita .... China
Kate Luyben .... Daisy
Pancho Moler .... Kevin
Shannon O'Hurley

Produced by
Bruce Heller .... co-producer
Geyer Kosinski .... producer
Brad Marks .... associate producer
Marcus Viscidi .... executive producer

Cinematography by Rogier Stoffers
Film Editing by Sandra Adair

Rated
For rating reasons, go to FILMRATINGS.COM, and MPAA.ORG.
Parents, please refer to PARENTALGUIDE.ORG

The Bad News Bears is funny….if you like humor that is completely dominated by putting someone else down. The movie revolves around the verbal domination of one character over another, like one long putdown. It’s like being in middle school all over again except that the vocabulary the youth involved use is more what you would expect out of Old School or Bad Boys. And I would have found that acceptable, if there had been some dramatic turnabout in the last portion of the movie, but there wasn’t. I did find in the movie some moments to learn from though, so like most movies, it wasn’t all bad.

Billy Bob Thornton’s character, Morris Buttermaker, drinks, smokes, curses and sleeps around—and the audience joins the youth on his team in seeing these actions over and over again. He obviously recognizes his shortcomings and admits as much to various players over the course of the movie, but even by the end he refuses to change. Buttermaker and the team badger each other in terms of weight, skill, physical handicap, sexual preference, attractiveness, religion, economic level, and more. No category is left unblemished by the time these bad news bears are done with them. And the saddest part for me is that a group of young actors was encouraged to see this sort of behavior as funny. And what about the youth who will be taken by their coach to go see this ‘baseball’ movie?

That is probably my biggest problem with the movie—you expect that all the garbage, funny and otherwise, heaped on you over the first part of the movie is only to highlight the difference in the end. And it would if it was a family-friendly, sports-as-remedy-for-society movie, but it’s not. This movie lacks plot (I won’t blow the ending for those who’ve never seen the original or the show, but it’s atypical for a sports movie), and just sets you up for crude joke followed by putdown.

The few times that Buttermaker seems to be turning the corner, I was sadly disappointed. The first occurs when he tells an Armenian player that he should lie to his father—the father thinks baseball is a waste of time and that he’ll embarrass himself. The young man’s coach encourages him to lie, and this is positively reinforced at the end of the movie. The second occurs at the typical ‘pep talk’ time toward the end of the movie as Buttermaker appears to recognize that his blind ambition is negatively impacting the development of his players and allows everyone to play (as a true rec team.) Instead of continuing this upswing, the movie closes with vulgarity and a round of ‘non-alcoholic’ drinks for the youth. As if adults don’t have a hard enough time recognizing that it isn’t really “non,” now young viewers of the movie will struggle with the connection as well.

I referred this past weekend to my church softball team as the “bad news bears,” thinking I was referring to a group of non-athletes who worked hard but couldn’t seem to ever succeed. I was wrong though, because these BNB were crass, mean, and unsportsmanlike—the antithesis of who we should be as Christians. I hope that viewers will see the BNB and recognize that we often get blinded by what is right in front of us. It seems like competition can be one of those things, as can alcohol, sex, social standing and more. Hopefully as we criticize what is wrong with the BNB, we can see what’s wrong with us, and make the change. We should play hard, look toward what is best for others, and regardless of the score, everyone will succeed.

—Comment on the blog

I recently wrote a review where I had nothing but kudos for the remake of a classic, The Longest Yard. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same about the Bad News Bears. Maybe if I had never seen the original 1976 version of the Bad News Bears I would have enjoyed this current release a bit more. But that is not the case.

About the only similarity between the original 1976 and the 2005 versions is the overall plot. A self acclaimed drunk and loser, whose claim to fame is that he once stepped onto a major league field, is hired to coach a team of misfits and the athletically challenged. The story follows the coach, as much a misfit as the kids he is coaching, and the team he grows to love as they rise from the cellar to become a competitor. But this is where the similarity ends. The main focus of the movie is not about the team’s turn around, as much as it is about the many relationships and the evolution of these relationships during this one Little League season.

Well, at least that is what you get out of the 1976 version. And this is the big difference between the two. In the 1976 version a lot of time is spent on character development and the relationship of the characters. How the events of the baseball season impact these relationships and the characters themselves. Walter Matthau as Coach Morris Buttermaker and his estranged daughter Amanda Whurlitzer (played by Tatum O’Neal) gave excellent performances and you really got to know and feel for these characters. The Director, Michael Ritchie, focused on these characters and their relationship, giving you a glimpse as to why Buttermaker was who he was and how hard it was for he and his daughter to reconnect. And when they do, you feel like you were there for the painful and loving effort that it required.

While Billy Bob Thornton was able to convince you that Buttermaker was a drunken, go nowhere, has-been baseball player, there was little depth to the character. And I was totally thrown off, even though I knew it was coming, when he all of sudden becomes “the coach”. It was like one minute he is this unrecoverable scumbag and then the next he is the experienced coach, driven to whip his team into shape. Why did he make this change? There was no buildup—he just changes? Not very convincing and not very entertaining. And the relationship between Buttermaker and his alienated daughter, while highlighted as it was in the earlier release, it was not emphasized in this remake. In the current release, if that part of the film had been left on the editing floor, it probably wouldn’t have made much of a difference to this newest version. By comparison this was essential to the earlier version and is what really made the earlier version a classic. This difference is carried through with all the rest of the characters. Other than an off-handed mention about his father, we have no idea why the character Kelly Leak is such a rebel. And the relationship between Kelly and Amanda is almost inconsequential in this newest release—where it was a critical component of the original movie.

And what about Timmy Lupis, Tanner Boyle, and the rest of the team? In the original you got to know these characters and why, finally, when they came together it was such a wondrous thing. It seems like the only purpose in the current version for the rest of the team is to provide an outlet for obscenities, flipping off each other, and someone for Buttermaker to cuss at. The earlier release, when it first came out, was considered a bit edgy (a young girl like Amanda talking about sexual things, kids being exposed to the excesses of the original drunken Buttermaker). But this new release isn’t edgy—it’s just a flourish of profanity, racism, and sexual innuendo; from beginning to end; in a hope that if you provide enough shock value, some people will find it funny. I don't mind if a film requires these components to provide atmosphere or emphasis to the storyline, but when the purpose is just to fill in (most of the film) or used as for shock value (and even then not very successfully), then I am artistically offended.

And it was funny at times. There were some scenes that made you laugh and some interactions that made you think. But these were few and far between. I did like Sammi Kane Kraft, who plays Buttermaker’s daughter (Amanda) in the 2005 version. Though it probably was not a stretch for her to play the role as she is a Little League pitcher in real life. I would like to see her in a different role where she is given the opportunity to demonstrate her acting abilities. Because the Bad News Bears was not one of these.

Even though the film has been dissected to remove the factors that made the original such a success, the overall Message in the Movie remains. We see this Message in Buttermaker’s salvation as he develops an affinity for the Bad News Bear players (though, like I said earlier, this transformation is sudden and without any real substance). Also, though lightly touched on, is the reconciliation with his daughter. A similarity to the returning prodigal son story, but in reverse. The father, who has been away from the family returns, and after some trepidation on the daughter’s part, accepted back – even after everything he has done wrong. We are shown how the change in the father impacts the daughter. The same applies in our own lives. How we interact with others can make a major difference in their lives and the reverse is true. Our relationships have a profound impact on how we see the world and others around us. Lastly, we see fellowship exemplified as individuals come together to form a team, especially in the relationship between Tanner and Lupis (though this is again lightly touched on in the 2005 release).

With all the great movies out this Summer, I would put this one on the backburner until it comes out on DVD and you have seen everything else you want to see. Better yet, go rent the 1976 version and really enjoy the film as it was meant to be.

—Comment on the blog

I will not post these comments. I welcome your spiritual concerns and prayer needs.  I will correspond with you, usually within two weeks.
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