The Bad News Bears

Director: Michael Ritchie Michael Ritchie

Overview

The success this underdog comedy from director Michael Ritchie almost single-handedly spawned the kids' sports film boom of the 1980s and '90s. When beer-breathed ex-minor-league ball player and professional pool cleaner Morris Buttermaker (Walter Matthau) agrees to coach a Los Angeles little league team, he soon finds he's in over his head, having inherited an assortment of pint-sized peons and talentless losers. They play well-organized teams and lose by tremendous margins, and the parents threaten to disband the Bears to save the kids (and themselves) any further embarrassment. Buttermaker refuses, though, and brings in a pair of ringers: Amanda (Tatum O'Neal), his ex-girlfriend's tomboy daughter, and Kelly (Jackie Earle Haley), a cigarette-smoking delinquent who happens to be a gifted athlete. With their help, the Bears manage to change their losing ways and qualify for the championship, where they face their arch-rivals, the Yankees.

Product Details

Release Date:	04/25/2017
UPC:	0032429271280
Original Release:	1976
Rating:	PG
Source:	PARAMOUNT
Language:	English
Time:	1:41:00
Sales rank:	14,590

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Walter Matthau	Coach Morris Buttermaker,Athletic
Tatum O'Neal	Manda Whurlizer
Vic Morrow	Coach Roy Turner
Joyce Van Patten	Cleveland
Ben Piazza	Councilman Whitewood
Jackie Earle Haley	Kelly Leak
Alfred Lutter	Ogilvie
Brandon Cruz	Joey Turner
Shari Summers	Mrs. Turner
Joe Brooks	Umpire
Maurice Marks	Announcer
Quinn Smith	Lupus
Gary Lee Cavagnaro	Engelberg
Erin Blunt	Ahmad
David Stambaugh	Toby Whitewood
Jaime Escobedo	Agilar Boy
George Gonzales	Agilar Boy
David Pollock	Other Boy
Scott Firestone	Other Boy
Brett Marx	Other Boy
Chris Barnes	Tanner Boyle,Actor
Timothy Blake	Mrs. Lupus
Bill Sorrells	Mr. Tower
George Wyner	White Sox Manager
Howard Culver	Newscaster
Jerry Fielding	Composer

Technical Credits

Bill Lancaster

Stanley R. Jaffe	Producer
Michael Ritchie	Director
Bill Lancaster	Screenwriter
Polly Platt	Producer
Jesse Wayne	Stunts
Stanley Jaffe	Producer
John Wilkinson	Sound/Sound Designer
Gene Cantamessa	Sound Mixer

Editorial Reviews

One of the first and best sports films ever made for kids, The Bad News Bears established a formula that became its own subgenre. Years of imitations, though, only make The Bad News Bears seem more genuine. A former baseball player-turned-pool cleaner (Walter Matthau) coaches a failing Little League team with the help of a preteen girl pitching sensation (Tatum O'Neal). Tomboy prototype O'Neal is as charming here as she was in her film debut, Paper Moon. Part of the film's unique charm is its courageous support of the "it's how you play the game" ethos and its thoughtful rejection of the "win at all costs" mentality. As always, Matthau plays his grumpy sad-sack role to perfection; and the rag-tag collection of players is enthusiastic and endearing. A winning combination of broad humor and smart observations, The Bad News Bears is a beloved treasure of family entertainment -- and a terrific baseball movie, to boot.

Barnes & Noble - Amy Robinson

Bad News Bears is one of the most delightful blends of family and adult entertainment ever made. The underdog-made-good story may please and kids in the audience, but it's only one facet of the film's entertaining, realistic portrait of little league baseball. The real appeal comes from spot-on performances by Tatum O'Neal and Walter Matthau. Their relationship, as a grizzled divorcé and the pubescent girl trying to make him her father, is finely tuned and immensely enjoyable. Their natural stubbornness yet vulnerability comes through, helping to keep the story out of the realm of the sentimental. The entire script, by Bill Lancaster, is full of authenticity, capturing both the different personalities of the kids and the often embarrassing and bizarre world of Little League. Director Michael Ritchie achieves all of the story's drama without losing any of the innocence of the youngsters. Considering that his three previous films (Prime Cut, The Candidate, and Smile) were all distinctly adult fare, Bad News Bears was a surprising movie from Ritchie. But he brings his mature sensibility to his characters, never expecting them to be perfect but never judging them either.

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