BY LOIS WADSWORTH
Out to the Ball Game
BAD NEWS BEARS :
Directed by Richard
Linklater. Written by Bill Lancaster, Glenn Ficarra, John
Requa, based on the film written by Bill Lancaster.
Produced by J. Geyer Kosinski, Richard Linklater.
Executive producer, Marcus Viscidi. Cinematography,
Rogier Stoffers. Production design, Bruce Curtis.
Edited by Sandra Adair. Costume design, Karen Patch.
Original music, Richard Shearmur. Music supervisor,
Randall Poster. Starring Billy Bob Thornton, with Greg
Kinnear and Marcia Gay Harden. Team: Sammi Kane
Kraft, Jeffrey Davies, Timmy Deters, Brandon Craggs,
Ridge Canipe, Tyler Patrick Jones, Aman Johal, Troy
Gentile, Jeffrey Tedmori, Kenneth Harris, Carlos
Estrada and Emmanuel Estrada. Paramount Pictures,
2005. PG-13. 111 minutes.
F
oul-mouthed movie kids almost
always amuse me because the nov-
elty of cursing gives the little tykes
pitch-perfect phrasing. Likewise, Morris
Buttermaker (Billy Bob Thornton), the
Bears’ cussmaster and baseball coach, does-
n’t miss an inflection or a beat but rolls ’em
out like an old hand at the fine art of cursing.
Best of all, the team’s unrelenting blue lan-
guage feels just right for the sensibilities of
this group of kids, most of whom would
never get picked for a regular team and
know it.
Morris, who kills pests for a living, is a
morally challenged individual. He’s certain-
ly not above taking a bribe. He receives a
mysterious envelope from one kid’s mother,
Liz (Marcia Gay Harden), a lawyer, to work
with these uncoachables and turn them into
a team. Formidable Liz sued the school and
the league to create this team so all the chil-
dren who wanted to could play, and she turns
a blind eye to Morris’s blatant boozing.
She’s trying to help her son, Toby
(Ridge Canipe), but the poor kid is
so overscheduled he doesn’t know
what he wants.
After the movie was over, I was
tickled to overhear a grandmother-
ly woman ask the 7-year-old with
her, “Now wasn’t that a good
movie?” Raised in a hypocritical
climate where certain words will
get a person kicked out of school,
the child may or may not have
known how to reply.
My expectations weren’t high
for the movie, but I was not disap-
pointed. Because the film is a remake, many
critics will waste your time telling you the
differences between Thornton and Walter
Matthau’s performances or between how an
actual baseball player, Sammi Kane Kraft,
and actress Tatum O’Neal portrayed the
Bears’ ace girl pitcher, Amanda. Everybody
does just fine, thanks.
The jokes have transferred almost 100
percent from the original film, with only the
curious updating of the Bears’ team sponsor.
In the older film, a bail bondsman pitched in
and bought the team uniforms; now it’s a
gentlemen’s club. The women who work in
the club appear in full force for each game,
serving as team cheerleaders and having a
good time. It may be a stretch to imagine
these women hanging out in the bleachers
with all the town’s upright and uptight citi-
Invites you and a guest to an advance screening of
DEANA NEWCOMB, PARAMOUNT PICTURES 2005
Breaking down hypocrisy
zens, but they add a bit of color to the game.
Some of the kids stand out, notably
Tanner (Timmy Deters). To use an adjective
like “pugnacious” or “scrappy” to describe
this kid is laughable. Tanner starts a fight
faster than you can think, and he’s fearless.
He’ll take on several bigger boys at once and
keep slugging until they get tired and leave.
Kelly (Jeff Davies) raises adolescent ’tude to
new levels. The campus bad boy, Kelly’s
also a great ball player. Naturally, he and
Amanda hit it off. Engelberg (Brandon
Craggs) is the team fat boy, who has to put
up with a lot of guff.
I looked for but didn’t find any trace of
the Richard Linklater who made the inti-
mate, romantic Before Sunset last year, but
of course he wrote and directed that film.
This is a “for hire” directorial job for
Linklater, not something he has put his soul
into. Well, that may not be true. Both he and
Thornton actually played baseball, so they
do know the game, or at least they know
more than the Bears do.
As these things go, Bad News Bears is not
half bad. Thornton has the ability to make
even middle-aged losers look good. He sleep-
walks through the first half but improves after
Buttermaker gets over himself. Arrogant
coach Roy Bullock (Greg Kinnear) makes a
perfect opponent for Buttermaker, and watch-
ing them square off is rewarding.
Bad News Bears has been around awhile.
It’s now playing at Cinemark, but will sure-
ly end up at Movies 12. Recommended for
the simple vices it enjoys: cussing, fighting
and irresponsibly driving a Caddy convert-
ible while drinking.
ew
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AUGUST 11, 2005 27