Bad News Bears (2005)

A grizzled little league coach tries to turn his team of misfits into champs.

Director:

Richard Linklater

Writers:

Bill Lancaster (screenplay), Glenn Ficarra (screenplay)

Stars:

Billy Bob Thornton, Greg Kinnear, Marcia Gay Harden

1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Billy Bob Thornton	...	Morris Buttermaker
Greg Kinnear	...	Roy Bullock
Marcia Gay Harden	...	Liz Whitewood
Sammi Kane Kraft	...	Amanda Whurlitzer
Ridge Canipe	...	Toby Whitewood
Brandon Craggs	...	Mike Engelberg
Jeffrey Davies	...	Kelly Leak
Timmy Deters	...	Tanner Boyle
Carlos Estrada	...	Miguel Agilar
Emmanuel Estrada	...	Jose Agilar
Troy Gentile	...	Matthew Hooper
Kenneth 'K.C.' Harris	...	Ahmad Abdul Rahim
Aman Johal	...	Prem Lahiri
Tyler Patrick Jones	...	Timmy Lupus
Jeffrey Tedmori	...	Garo Daragabrigadien

Storyline

Morris Buttermaker, an alcoholic pest removal worker and former professional baseball player (for a very short time), is recruited to coach and train a failing baseball team of 12-year-olds which is about to be thrown out of the league.

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Plot Keywords:

team | coach | baseball | alcoholic | little league | 

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Taglines:

Disorganized. Disrespected. Dis summer.

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Genres:

Comedy | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for rude behavior, language throughout, some sexuality and thematic elements

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

22 July 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Los osos de la mala suerte

Filming Locations:

Skatelab Skatepark, 4226 Valley Fair St, Simi Valley, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,382,472, 24 July 2005

Gross USA:

$32,868,349

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$34,252,847

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Media Talent Group, Detour Filmproduction

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the trailer, the baseball bat with the film's title on it says, "Est. 1976", this was the year the original film was released.

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Goofs

While Bullock is talking into the microphone at the start of the game, the pop shield disappears between shots.

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Quotes

Morris Buttermaker: [after hitting Ahmad with a pitch] It's all right, kid. You had a helmet on. Imagine if you didn't. You know what I'm saying?

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: The Island/November/Last Days/The Devil's Rejects/Hustle & Flow (2005)

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Soundtracks

Isn't It Romantic
by Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers

User Reviews

Rock 'n roll update--not all that different, but dispiriting...

Unskilled, belligerent group of young boys on a losing Little League baseball team get an alcoholic coach who eventually cleans up their act--and his own. Any film-buff well acquainted with the 1976 Michael Ritchie film "The Bad News Bears" will watch this remake in a perpetual state of deprivation. For every new ingredient added (a kid in a wheelchair, Hooters waitresses on the sidelines, a skateband interlude), there's a classic sequence dropped, funny lines omitted, a bracing sense of importance missing, and uncharismatic, non-plussed child actors who walk through their roles colorlessly. Of course, Billy Bob Thornton is a terrific substitute for Walter Matthau, but Matthau didn't carry the original film all by himself, and Thornton isn't fully in-character anyway (he's just breezing through). The whole early morning feel of Southern California Little League is missing, and the urgency of the original is gone, too (those kids had something riding on these games). Director Richard Linklater obviously was fond of the 1976 version, but he knows the notes without hearing the music; he supplies updated comedic touches without seeing the relevancy, and his tone and narrative are doggedly straightforward (except for the strange opening sequence, which immediately gets the picture off on the wrong foot). A sad botch. *1/2 from ****