The Bad News Bears (1976) Review

        After taking a break with talking films, I’m back. All throughout June, I’ll be talking about Sports movies. You may have noticed that I’ve already talked about some of the good ones, mostly for football since I always coincide it with the Super Bowl every February. It only made sense that I talk about just how far this sub-genre has come, we’ll be looking at some about here in the States and one across the Atlantic. For now, here’s what I think about the 1976 classic, The Bad News Bears. 

1. Washed Up Coach

        I’ve heard of the series way back around the 2000s, little did I know that it was a remake from the director of School of Rock. I’ll talk about that one in a moment, and I’ve seen a snippet when the team went to play in Houston and meet the Astros in one of the sequels. With this film, it’s a product of the time and shows the sport in a different point of view. It predates The Sandlot by having the focus be on the kids. 

        The film is mostly about a has been baseball player named Morris, who’s been given the chance to coach a local little league team. Specifically, his friend sued the Little League into creating another team so that his son can play. Along with a batch of kids who haven’t had a chance. Predictably, the kids are bad as players. Their jerseys are even more laughable, with the other teams being sponsored by chain restaurants. The Bears are sponsored by a local bail bond. 

        I’ll elaborate more on the kids, actor Walter Matthau does a great job of being the team’s coach. At first he’s just a stubborn man that could care less about the kids. From there, he manages to make some moves where the team slowly becomes successful. This is one of those examples where the coach inspires the kids to play better and to play with a chip on their shoulder. 

        It’s one thing to mention too that Morris is an avid drinker and smoker. Those characteristics make him a good character since every kid in his team always comments on it and even poke fun at him. He’s a competitor and basically recruits some help to make the team more competitive. The moments between him and Amanda are genuine, they have a real good father daughter dynamic. It’s implied that Amanda is his daughter from a failed relationship. 

        Overall, Morris is a good man that uses the team to reach his glory that he never had when he was a player. So much so that this is one of those rare movies that uses camera tricks and editing to show just how much his coaching has affected the team. This happens during the last moments in the film, and I just love it when he gets upset with the kids. We see the individual player’s faces as they seemingly feel disappointed and sad that they’re not doing good enough. 

2. Battered Kids of Baseball

        Aside from Morris, the kids just steal the show. Their enthusiasm and lines that they say feels genuine. Like there are moments in films where the kids just act badly due to poor direction or just not having the chops to be believable. With these kids, they can cuss. Obviously, we think of kids cursing like it’s a sin or a taboo to human growth, but watching it gives them the edge that is justified. 

        The context being that they were left out of the other teams because they weren’t good enough. Hell, even the team doesn’t coincide with any actual MLB teams that the other little leaguers represent. I think the best player that represents the team is Tanner. The only small player that has quite a mouth and shouts racial epithets is the heart of the team. When seeing the team lose in the beginning, he’s upset and wants to win. I think the best moment involving him is when he's defending his teammates from some rivals. Even though he gets put in a trashcan, that whole moment is honorable for how he stood up. 

        The other kids have something going for themselves, while we don’t have a clear view into their personal lives, some of them have some personal problems at home. It’s not elaborated and I think it’s the point where it’s on the implied factor. One of them, the Harley Davidson rebel Kelly seems to have problems. Just after the team wins, he offers his teammates a ride in his bike, only to be shunned by mostly everyone. 

        I think what’s fascinating that the winning is focused more on the parents than just the kids. In the context of the film, they just want to play. But the adults take it to a ridiculous degree, that basically berating a kid for doing an erroneous pitch warrants the coach abusing him. Those moments show that the idea of winning can be abused. Which is why I love that moment when Morris realizes that he’s going too far with his coaching. 

        One thing that I didn’t want to spoil, but I’m going to and really it’s one of the defining moments in the film is that it predated Rocky by having the underdogs lose in the last match. This moment was shot with two endings, the test audience preferred when they lost since it lined up who the team was. And I kind of feel that it was progressive in a way that it emphasized that winning wasn’t the only thing. Just having the dignity and pride that the kids squared up against an ostensibly better opponent.  

3. Overall

        This film is I think the best Baseball movie when it involves kids, it’s not PG in today standards. Regardless, it shows just how rugged the bears were when they deliver the bad news to the other team.