Bad News Bears (2005)

One of the best films i have seen

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Quite often, the quality of a movie depends heavily on the expectations of the audience going into see it. In the case of the 2005 remake of The Bad News Bears, expectations were most likely lower than the average baseball film. Though it is helmed by the enormously talented and creative Richard Linklater, little of his talent is utilized in this otherwise bland and, at times, disjointed tale of a group of ragtag Little League rejects who form together to create an unlikely winning combination.Billy Bob Thornton as the alcoholic coach Morris Buttermaker is at times likable and sympathetic while at others he is a complete and utter wretched person. Though this would work in some scripts, here it feels cheap and rings false, with Buttermaker and most of the rest of the cast being used by the plot as puppets. Hardly any of these characters' actions feel genuine or reasonable; rather they seem to be acting in a movie.The best part of the film, the championship game which takes up the last twenty minutes or so, reveals some nice touches but still is not quite capable of capturing the right balance between salty adolescence and sympathetic losers. Greg Kinnear's antagonist also seems to fall into the all-too big category of bad guys being bad simply for the sake of being the protagonist's obstruction. Whether this is a better film than the original 1976 must be decided by the audience, but it certainly fails to be any more surprising or memorable.

I've never seen the original "Bad News Bears", which is probably why I managed to enjoy this movie. I didn't get stuck comparing the two versions, I saw this remake as a movie in it's own right. With that said, it still isn't a great film no matter how you look at it. Billy Bob Thornton mouthing of to kids is a bit that never gets old, but all of this stuff has been done better in "Bad Santa". And eventually they find out he's pretty kind behind his rough exterior, yadda yadda yadda. Luckily there are still some hilarious lines worked in here and there, the writing occasionally take a break from lazily connecting the dots and actually come up with something original. The kids also act surprisingly well, although I say that about pretty much every child actor who doesn't look at the camera more than twice a scene. "Bad News Bears" isn't anything you haven't seen before, but it's entertaining I guess.

Bad news bears is a very decent remake. Director Richard Linklater directs this laugh out loud comedy. Though, not many people liked it. I liked it more than School of rock. I really liked School of rock. Replacing Walter Matheu is Billy Bob Thornton, who does a very great job. We have all seen the original. WE should all know the plot to this film. A drunk loser coaches a baseball team of young ones and they are all weird, there are foul mouthes, and a bunch of other odd children. I think that this film is very funny. Though there may not be a ton of originality here. Greg Kinear plays a character that he plays a lot. Or it seems that way. Marcia Gay Harden also plays a characters that she usually plays, or seems like she usually plays. Bad news bears is a very good remake. Though a lot of people gave it a pass, I don't think you should. Billy Bob Thornton should've gotten nominated for something. He does such a good job as the coach. Just his performance alone makes this movie work. Thumbs up.

First let me say I was raised on the original BNB series and have tracked them all down on DVDs to share with my kids. I'm also a huge fan of Thornton's however, was he not feeling well during this shoot? His acting is sub-par. The casting directors also could have spent a little more time finding kids who could actually act to play the roles of Kelly and Amanda. The movie went down hill with their appearances in the film. This is also one of those stories that other than the clothes, needed no modernizations, IE: computers, Hooters Girls, Music, etc. Buttermaker should have remained a pool man and it would have made him a lot more interesting character than an exterminator.I admit, they ALL had a tough act to follow, Tatum O'Neil (Amanda Whurlitzer), Walter Matthau (Morris Buttermaker), Jackie Earle Haley (Kelly Leak)and who could forget, Chris Barnes as Tanner Boyle! Everyone I've talked to who has seen both the original and the remake agree that the 1976 version was lacking nothing and was a much more enjoyable film to watch.