The Bad News Bears (1976)
Walter Matthau, a drunk, ex-minor league baseball pitcher coaches the foulest collection of misfits in little league ever. Ah, the 70s. Directed by Michael Ritchie.
It is impossible to imagine a movie like The Bad News Bears being made or released today. The depiction of drinking, swearing and behavior would never be shown today, at least not without a strong resolution by the end of the film showing the character "overcoming." This makes the movie still shocking and fresh all these years later.
Matthau's introduction to us is as he pours some bourbon into a beer to drink before he heads to the baseball field. He's been payed (illegally, it appears) by a councilman who has successfully sued a little league to allow his son and other kids to play. Their misfit band is the stuff of most sports movies - will they be able to pull together as a team and win? Thankfully the film subverts these tropes at every possible juncture. Sure, the kids get better, but it turns out they need two ringers to really make the difference. And they don't magically come together and like each other - there's still a lot of conflict on the team. Along with this, the depiction of baseball and little league actually rang pretty true to life, even though some aspects were obviously exaggerated for cinematic/comedic effect.
It is impossible to imagine a movie like The Bad News Bears being made or released today. The depiction of drinking, swearing and behavior would never be shown today, at least not without a strong resolution by the end of the film showing the character "overcoming." This makes the movie still shocking and fresh all these years later.
Matthau's introduction to us is as he pours some bourbon into a beer to drink before he heads to the baseball field. He's been payed (illegally, it appears) by a councilman who has successfully sued a little league to allow his son and other kids to play. Their misfit band is the stuff of most sports movies - will they be able to pull together as a team and win? Thankfully the film subverts these tropes at every possible juncture. Sure, the kids get better, but it turns out they need two ringers to really make the difference. And they don't magically come together and like each other - there's still a lot of conflict on the team. Along with this, the depiction of baseball and little league actually rang pretty true to life, even though some aspects were obviously exaggerated for cinematic/comedic effect.
posted by Mike at 3:42 PM
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