The Bad News Bears (1976)
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An alcoholic former pitcher is hired to coach a team of unskilled, marginalized youth baseball players.
The story
Morris Buttermaker, an alcoholic former minor-league baseball pitcher, accepts a secretive cash payment to coach the Bears, a youth baseball team composed of unskilled players excluded from other teams due to a lawsuit. Shunned by more competitive teams and their parents, the Bears are considered the least talented team in the Southern California league. Buttermaker initially makes little effort to help the boys improve, even forfeiting their opening game after they allow 26 runs without recording an out. However, after the team wants to quit due to the humiliation, Buttermaker begins to take his coaching seriously, teaching the basics and recruiting two unlikely prospects to help the team gain confidence.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Morris Buttermaker, an alcoholic former minor-league baseball pitcher, accepts a secretive cash payment from lawyer Bob Whitewood to coach the Bears, a youth baseball team composed of unskilled players excluded from other teams due to a lawsuit. Shunned by more competitive teams, the Bears are considered the least talented in the Southern California league. After a humiliating opening loss where they allow 26 runs without an out, Buttermaker begins to take his coaching seriously, teaching basics and recruiting two prospects: Amanda Whurlizer, a skilled pitcher, and Kelly Leak, a local troublemaker. As the team begins to win, the strained past relationship between Buttermaker and Amanda is revealed. Eventually, the Bears reach the championship game against the top-notch Yankees, coached by the aggressive Roy Turner. Tensions rise as Buttermaker and Turner engage in ruthless behavior. When Turner strikes his son Joey, Joey retaliates by holding a comebacker until the Bears runner scores, then walks off the field. Realizing he has placed too much emphasis on winning, Buttermaker puts in his bench-warmers to allow everyone to play. The Bears lose, but they nearly win. After the trophy ceremony, Buttermaker gives the team beer, which they spray on each other in celebration.
- First release year
- 1976
- Runtime (minutes)
- 102
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English; Spanish
- Directors
- Michael Ritchie
- Writers
- Bill Lancaster · writer
- Cast and characters
- Walter Matthau · Morris Buttermaker; Tatum O'Neal · Amanda Whurlizer; Vic Morrow · Roy Turner; Joyce Van Patten · Cleveland; Ben Piazza · Bob Whitewood; Jackie Earle Haley · Kelly Leak; Alfred W. Lutter · Alfred Ogilvie; Chris Barnes · Tanner Boyle
- Genres
- sports comedy
- Themes
- Competition; Coming-of-age; Alcoholism
- Tone and mood
- Cynical; Funny; Realistic
- Premise and plot tags
- Sports; Comedy; Coming-of-age
- Franchise connections
- The Bad News Bears
- Reception
- The film received generally positive reviews, with critics praising its humor and Walter Matthau's performance, though some found the children's dialogue overdone.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 90% · review count: 105 critics
- Production trivia
- The film's score adapts themes from Georges Bizet's opera Carmen.; The Bears were sponsored by a real local company, 'Chico's Bail Bonds'.; Walter Matthau was paid $750,000 plus over 10% of the theatrical rentals.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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