Absolutely the worst movie.

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

As a lifelong baseball fan, I had kind of been embarrassed that I had never seen this movie all the way through. Whenever a Little League-er lets a ball through the legs or stumbles around under a pop-up, someone will usually bring up a "Bad News Bears" comment. When I finally did sit down and watch it in entirety, however, what I found was that it is a film where the subject matter and stereotypes transcend how good the movie actually is.For a basic plot summary, "Bad News Bears" sees former baseball player Morris Buttermaker (Walter Matthau) basically get suckered/bribed into coaching a community Little League baseball team (the Bears). In typical fashion, the team can't hit, catch, or throw, and Buttermaker doesn't care…sipping his beer and puffing his smokes in the dugout. When the boys are embarrassed by the rival Yankees in their first game and the opposing manager gets under Buttermaker's skin, however, he begins to start trying/caring (albeit in only the way he knows how). When motorcycle-riding "hooligan" Kelly (Jackie Earle Haley) and step-daughter Amanda (Tatum O'Neal) are recruited to help the team out, things actually begin to click and the Bears start moving up in the standings.There are themes/clichés in this movie that truly are universal. I mean, any baseball/sports fan can relate to the bumbling little league team, right?! Then, you also have the "rebel kid who also has the best baseball skills", the "girl who can outpitch the boys", and the "manager who waffles between caring, winning, and having fun". Heck, the rival team in the film is even called the Yankees for crying out loud! I think this is why "Bad News Bears" will always have a niche in sports film culture, as it shines a brief light on so many of those youth sports touchstones.Taken just as a film (and not a cliché), however, "Bad News Bears" really isn't all that great (I even found it rather dull in spots). Most of the beats are completely and utter predictable and characters like Buttermaker and Kelly Leak (while potentially iconic in image) don't really provide a coherent narrative. The only portion of the movie that really, really works is Tatum O'Neal's character, as Amanda actually receives a character arc and is given interesting things to do rather than just following a formulaic script.Thus, I think the biggest problem with "Bad News Bears" is that it tries to stuff too many clichés and sports genre tropes into its one hour and forty minute runtime, to the point of not really nailing any of them. Those clichés, combined with a few funny sight gags ("Chico's Bail Bonds"), will allow this film to live on into the annals of history, but I'd recommended using it as those stereotypes instead of sitting down and watching it front-to-back, as you may be disappointed by the full cinematic experience.

Bad News Bears stars Walter Matthau and a young Tatum O'Neal in a film about an aging former baseball player and the team of misfits he is financially coerced into coach little league baseball. Michael Ritchie directs a sports movie that takes a different approach than the all too common paint by numbers avenue sports movies usually travel. Bad News Bears, a 1976 feature, is a fun deviation from the usual sports movie, not even requiring the audience to be sports fans in order to enjoy the film. Considering the cast is largely made up of a collection of minors, Bad News Bears shines as a fun movie able to be enjoyed by all. Former baseball player and current pool cleaner, Walter Matthau (Morris Buttermaker) who spends his time greeting the bottom of every beer can and cigarette butt he can, is roped into coaching a little league team made up of the misfits no other team would take. Roy Turner (Vic Morrow) even agrees to pay Buttermaker for his troubles of coaching the team, a responsibility he takes flippantly when he sees how poorly the team performs. Drinking beer and smoking in the dugout while he lets the kids run the show, Buttermaker is clearly only in the coaching gig for the money. As the story develops, and he secretly begins to care for the children on his team, he begins to take a more active coaching role, still with the beer in hand and wants to make sure the team does well. Buttermaker has a secret weapon up his sleeve when he recruits his ex- girlfriend's daughter, Amanda Whurlitzer (Tatum O'Neal) a feisty sporty 12-year old. The team also gets a huge bump when the local punk, Kelly Leak (Jackie Earle Haley) turns out to have an incredible natural talent for baseball. With more weapons in the dugout, and a confidence in themselves and each other growing with every game, the Bears begin to win games and have fun doing it. Somehow the misfit team makes it all the way to the championship game, proving that all you need is direction and a chance to prove yourself. The Bad News Bears is a brilliant ensemble piece. Typically in such a film, actors will deal with each other for screen time presence. In this film, made up mostly of children, that problem doesn't present itself, and it is to the audience's benefit. The character development in this film is unlike any I've seen in awhile. Not just the character of Morris Buttermaker is expanded, but each of the children's characters as well, to one extent or another, another aspect that is often lacking in ensemble films. I enjoyed learning through this film that Walter Matthau is much more than a grumpy man, as sadly, those are the only film roles I've seen of his. His acting is subtle, yet commanding, a trait that is missing from many modern day actors and was fun to see again. Of the many good features of this film, the best was that it was an unpredictable sports film. After watching a month's worth of sports films and learning that one is almost always the same as the next, The Bad News Bears was a fun departure from such boring predictable sports movies. What's also unique about this film is that it is packed with a message, yet avoids coming off preachy and overly moralistic. A fun movie all around, The Bad News Bears is a sports movie fit for athletic audiences and couch potatoes alike.The best takeaway from this film, for me, is seeing Walter Matthau in a role I have never seen him in before. He always came off a little muted and one-dimensional before; I am happy that misconception was dispelled with The Bad News Bears. It is rare to see such standout acting performances from such a young cast, but The Bad News Bears is a prime example of such a film. If you are going to seek out this great film, I would recommend going with the original (actually, in almost every scenario) and taking in some great Walter Matthau, along with some other big names in early roles and taking in 1976's The Bad News Bears.

Buttermaker (Walter Matthau) is a drunken ex-minor leaguer. He gets hired to coach a little league team of misfits. One of the fathers had sued to get the kids into a competitive league. However after a humiliating opening loss, the father figures the team should quit and so do the kids. Buttermaker try to save the team by getting a couple of ringers, his former girlfriend's kid (Tatum O'Neal) who happens to be a little girl and a juvenile delinquent (Jackie Earle Haley).This isn't simply a good kids movie. Quite frankly, parents today wouldn't want their kids to see this. The language is rough. A parent hits his kid. The kids swear, smoke, talk sex, and drink beer. I don't know how they got PG.The kids are great. Walter Matthau is his grumpy best. Tatum O'Neal is wonderful. It works as a good underdog movie. And then the last act explodes into something wonderful. It's heartbreaking when Buttermaker rejects Amanda for simply wanting a father figure. Then it goes all out as both coaches go super competitive. It's a real indictment of the ugliness of kids' sports culminating in that slap. It's not just a simple underdog movie, but a movie about real sportsmanship. It is a great original that the 2005 remake cannot touch.

Don't go making the mistake of thinking this is a kiddie movie. And don't go mistaking it with the dreadful remake.Made 35 years ago, this movie is a classic that could have been made yesterday. This ain't no softball Disney marshmallow fluff movie. Disney doesn't make movies about drunken, swearing Little League coaches, do they? Or 11 year old girls who go on dates to Grateful Dead concerts to persuade the local hood, Jackie Earle Haley, to join the team? Haley ends up chasing after Tatum O'Neal, whom Walter Matthau has bribed to join the team with the promise of free ballet lessons. So Halley, wearing cool sunglasses, has crashed a ballet lesson and ends up putting the make on an adult ballet student in tights twice his size with the line: "Do you live around here? I've got a Harley-Davidson. Does that turn you on? A Harley Davidson?' And then there is the overweight catcher who throws the ball back to Matthau covered with chocolate. During practice Matthau lays down a bunt and the catcher just stands there. Matthau tells him it is his job to get the ball and throw it to first base. The catcher is highly annoyed.So then in the first game when the Bears are being pummeled, a hitter lays down a bunt. What does the catcher do? He tries to get the runner out at home by throwing it to a very puzzled umpire.There are, I hear, some people who for some reason do not like Walter Matthau. Well, this is one of his truly great roles. Watch how he interacts with the kids and reacts nice and slow. There are parts later in the movie where he gets really angry, very convincingly, but mostly he is very relaxed, and his acting looks real natural. Some of the kids may have been a little stiff, I think he brings out the best from them with this style. It is great acting because he is so natural.I decided to re-watch this after an aborted attempt to make it through the remake, which lacks any of the charm and believability of the original, and said, hey, isn't that Moocher from Breaking Away as the hood? Sure enough, it was a younger Jackie Earle Haley. He's an interesting actor.If you like The Bad News Bears you might also like Breaking Away, which is about some teenagers who enter a bicycle race. One of the great sleeper movies, though at the time of its release everyone it seemed was talking about it.And if you like Matthau in this, check out Hopscotch. Another great role of his is in Mirage, with Gregory Peck, as a private eye -- a hard to find movie.Because of the swearing, this may not be suitable for little kids. Really, it is a movie for adults to watch and learn from, especially parents involved in kids sports. Come to think of it, Bad News Bears was ahead of its time. It is about adults who get bent out of shape trying to push the kids, a growing problem we've read about in the news in recent years. The lesson is its about learning to play as a team and have fun, and to be a kid!