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Movies / On DVD / The Bad News Bears
The Bad News Bears

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The Bad News Bears (1976)

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Reviews Counted:24

Fresh:22

Rotten:2

Average Rating:7.5/10

Consensus: The Bad News Bears is rude, profane, and cynical, but shot through with honest, unforced humor, and held together by a deft, understated performance from Walter Matthau.

Runtime: 1 hr 42 mins

Genre: Comedies

Synopsis: One of director Michael Ritchie's most universally recognized comedies, THE BAD NEWS BEARS is a film that continues to entertain audiences of all ages. The story concerns a hopeless Little League... One of director Michael Ritchie's most universally recognized comedies, THE BAD NEWS BEARS is a film that continues to entertain audiences of all ages. The story concerns a hopeless Little League team that eventually scores big when it acquires a new coach, Morris Buttermaker (Walter Matthau), a grouchy, beer-guzzling pool cleaner who takes the position for some extra cash. When he realizes that his players are a bunch of talentless misfits, he signs up two secret weapons: Amanda Whurlitzer (Tatum O'Neal), the daughter of an ex-girlfriend who also happens to be an awesome pitcher, and Kelly Leak (Jackie Earle Haley), a motorcycle-riding punk who is inarguably the best player in the area. With their new lineup in place, the Bears breeze their way into the championship game, in which they must battle their rivals, the Yankees, in order to exact revenge and win the title. Matthau's Buttermaker is a gem of a character, tossing off cynical one-liners with a vehemence that is truly hysterical. Ritchie strikes further gold with his youthful cast, who all embody their characters with a comic realism that is both heartwarming and humorous, making THE BAD NEWS BEARS one of the finest sports comedies ever made. [More]

Starring: Walter Matthau, Tatum O'Neal, Jackie Earle Haley, Vic Morrow

Starring: Walter Matthau, Tatum O'Neal, Jackie Earle Haley, Vic Morrow, Chris Barnes, Joyce Van Patten

Director: Michael Ritchie

Director: Michael Ritchie
Producer: Stanley R. Jaffe
Composer: Jerry Fielding

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Feb 12, 2002

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Reviews for The Bad News Bears

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Full Review Source: Dark Horizons | comment Comment
10/18/08
Garth Franklin
Garth Franklin
Dark Horizons

Surprisingly, improbably, The Bad News Bears is the year's funniest movie.

Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | comment Comment
08/03/08
Jay Cocks
Jay Cocks
TIME Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

If all kids' movies were like this, you wouldn't need to drag parents to the multiplexes.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
08/03/08
Richard Luck
Richard Luck
Channel 4 Film

Michael Ritchie keeps his dead-end cynicism in check and produces a genuinely funny comedy about a Little League team managed by a lovably drunken Walter Matthau.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
03/14/07
Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This charming, funny film takes a gentle poke at Little League baseball and the American obsession with winning.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
03/14/07
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

An extremely funny adult-child comedy film.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
03/14/07
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Matthau's perfectly restrained, brilliantly comic performance holds it together.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
05/26/06
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

Amiably engrossing satire on the 'win ethic' that offers a take-it-or-leave-it approach to its serious points about enforcing precociousness on kids, but consistently delights with its panoramic comic invention.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
01/26/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
11/04/05
Thomas Delapa
Thomas Delapa
Boulder Weekly

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
07/23/05
Kit Bowen
Kit Bowen
Hollywood.com

No review available.

comment Comment
06/11/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Remains the best film ever made about kids and sports.

Full Review Source: Lessons of Darkness | comment Comment
06/03/05
Nick Schager
Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness

[Ritchie] keeps the sentimentality in check most of the time and obtains first-rate performers from his miniature cast all of the time.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/09/05
Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

rude and very funny

comment Comment
11/08/04
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

[Ritchie] directs scenes for comedy even in the face of his disturbing material and that makes the movie all the more effective; sometimes we laugh, and sometimes we can't, and the movie's working best when we're silent.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
10/23/04
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The chemistry between Matthau and O'Neal makes it work.

comment Comment
10/15/04
Steve Crum
Steve Crum
Kansas City Kansan

No review available.

comment Comment
04/03/04
Daniel M. Kimmel
Daniel M. Kimmel
Worcester Telegram & Gazette

I've never understood what people thought was so great about this middling sports comedy.

comment 1 Comment
02/05/04
Rob Thomas
Rob Thomas
Capital Times (Madison, WI)

Isn't it great when a piece of classical music gets forever redefined by a movie about a bunch of foul mouthed brats? What could be a better way to spend 102 minutes of the truth?

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/08/02
Brad Laidman
Brad Laidman
Film Threat

Nice until they came up with a franchise!

comment Comment
10/25/02
Michael Szymanski
Michael Szymanski
Zap2it.com
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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