Directed by:
Michael RitchieScreenplay:
Bill LancasterCinematography:
John A. AlonzoComposer:
Jerry FieldingCast:
Walter Matthau, Tatum O'Neal, Vic Morrow, Joyce Van Patten, Ben Piazza, Jackie Earle Haley, Alfred Lutter III, Chris Barnes, Erin Blunt, George Wyner (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
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. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Reviews (1)
The Bad News Bears is the absolute archetype of modern sports movies, in which a team of total outsiders joins forces in an impossible fight against an elite team. At the same time, it is still a fun positive movie that can be thoroughly enjoyed. The great Walter Matthau pulls off a first-class performance as usual making it a top-notch movie about a man who drowns the sorrows of lost successes in the beer bottle, until he finds a more noble way to redemption, and is full of his own heartfelt cynicism. You feel sympathy with him as he begins to train a group of a bunch of seemingly hopeless baseball players. Tatum O'Neal and Jackie Earle Haley are also great here.
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