Take an over the hill, cigar smoking, beer guzzling pool cleaner in search of extra cash. Add some bungle-some maladroit's, one Harley Davidson Juvenile delinquent and flame throwing lassie and you have The Bad News Bears sponsored by Chico's Bail Bonds. If your looking for a wholesome warm movie about a star player getting the game winning hit to win the championship with bits of sportsmanship thrown in you got off at the wrong stop. Morris Buttermaker (Walter Matthau) inherited this ragtag bunch of little league pre-teen ballplayers. Let's describe this roster of misfits. At catcher you have the irritable hefty Engelberg who can barely close his shirt around his massive belly and always has a supply of chocolate bars on hand and a bucket of fried chicken.. Then you have the very intelligent timid, storky, bespectacled Ogilvie. On the mound as number 2 through 5 starter the clumsy Rudi Stein who has a penchant under the orders of the Manager to lean into one and get struck by a pitched ball. At Shortstop you have the boisterous, foul mouthed Tanner who has the boldness and bravery to take on the entire seventh grade. Our token Black player on the squad is Ahmad who when things go bad, and they usually do, takes off his uniform and climbs up a tree. Timmy Lupus is every person's underdog. Meek like a doe with his eyes in the headlights of an on coming truck. Teased and harassed by opposing ballplayers as Tanner comes to Timmy's defense but is physically deposited into a garbage can by Joey Turner (Brandon Cruz). You remember the adorable Brandon from the days of the TV show The Courtship Of Eddie's Father. In this film Brandon is anything but adorable as the opposing pitcher on the first place Yankees managed by His Philistine Father, Roy Turner (Vic Morrow). Morrow puts winning ahead of everything else in our story including his own family. Vic Morrow was Well cast as the foil against the deadpan Matthau. Ironically the two worked together in the Movie King Creole with the Iconic Elvis Presley years earlier. I love the banter between two opposing Managers Buttermaker and Turner. Buttermaker refers to Turner as PUSSHEAD. The final piece to this puzzle is our two talents. Map selling 12 year old Amanda Whurlitzer (Tatum O'Neal)who knows Buttermaker because he dated her Mom two years hence and the bond developed between Amanda and Buttermaker was there but not with the Mom. Tatum throughout the picture would want Buttermaker to date her Mom because deep down Amanda needed a Father figure in her life. Finally Cigarette smoking muscle shirted Harley bike riding Kelly Leak(Jackie Earle Haley)the natural power slugging outfielder who practically carries the whole team on his back right up to the championship game. Director Michael Ritchie captures the real childhood experience of Little league with all the foul language and pecking order. A team of dreadful' s being scoffed by the opponents and on the verge of quitting but a philosophic Buttermaker tells his troupe's that quitting is a hard habit to break. So get out your athletic supporters and when the season is over get acquainted with the Wife and kids. Hunt, fish or do whatever you do in the off season but be ready to be entertained by the Bad News Bears. Oh by the way check the baseballs for chocolate stains.

Most of the best-loved movies centered on sports are about the sport as an icon. They are tributes to the sport; love stories about something we idealize. "The Bad News Bears" is one of a handful of movies that evoke what it was like to play a sport. It may be the best of such movies, although I would place it in a tie with the brilliant "Personal Best."For any one who played an organized sport when they were young, "...Bears" should ring true. We didn't just know these kids, we were these kids. Trying to balance a developing sense of pride with the gratification that comes from being an appreciated part of a group. Trying to learn how to enjoy the journey as much as the destination. And trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with the adults who were supposed to be guiding us.For most of us, we figured it out. We may not have realized it, but we did. For some, "The Bad News Bears" may have been an important part of that. Anyone who hasn't had a moment like Tanner's when he realizes that he may not like Timmy, but Timmy is "TEAM!" probably never played a team sport. And I especially liked the way the film took advantage of the (at the time, new) inclusion of girls on Little League teams. I had aged out of Little League by then but "The Bad News Bears" reminded me that I had often wondered when I was playing LL if there weren't girls who could stay on the field with us boys. (As an aside does anybody remember the "Silver Bullets?" I firmly believe there are women capable of playing MLB caliber baseball, especially at 2B or SS.)As "film," "The Bad News Bears" is a great piece of work. Watched today, almost 40 years after its release, it seems classic, undated. The script has moments of brilliance (the aforementioned scene where Tanner discovers he's a team player and Tatum O'Neal's line about "up there" are favorites), the cinematography preserves the reality of suburban Little League settings, the direction is crisp but unobtrusive and the story is so well-crafted that it stings like an 11 year-old's fastball to the ribs. And the acting, especially among the players seems less like performance than candid documentary. These kids look, talk and act like pre-adolescents. They are old enough to be hearing "act your age" from the adults around them but present without affectation the confusion that is inherent from hearing themselves answer "But...I'm 11!" This more than anything else is what makes "...Bears" such a realistic film about playing a sport. These youngsters are being taught to compete, taught to win, but what they are doing is trying to have fun. It is confusing.

An alcoholic ,ex-minor leaguer, and all-round sour-puss is hired to coach a losing Little League team because no one else will do it. The team miraculously pulls together to overcome their problems. There is a lot of profanity and bad behavior by both adults and children on the way to the inevitable happy ending. Walter Matthau sleepwalks his way through his standard grouchy/heart of gold role while Tatum O'Neill is wasted. Her character is given little screen time and no development. There's not one word about how the boys feel about a girl teammate, and in 1976, this would have been news.Trashy.

I have to admit I am not a huge sports fan, but several sports movies have sparked my interest, such as Hoosiers, Breaking Away and Remember the Titans. I saw The Bad News Bears mostly for Walter Matthau and I really enjoyed it. While it could have been a tad longer perhaps, and one or two scenes could have been tighter in the pace, it is a very good movie. For a sports movie, it is quite different, taking on the underdogs taking on the big boys scenario for example, and it works wonderfully.The production values are very nice, and Jerry Fielding's score compliments each scene beautifully. The film's script is quite gritty, but it is also funny and thoughtful, while the story is always engaging and well-thought out with the relationship between Morris and his team particularly pulling you in. The direction is solid, while the acting is excellent. Walter Matthau is simply brilliant as the boozy coach Morris, while Joyce Van Patten gives great support and the child stars are more than a match for Matthau. Especially Tatum O'Neal, who is quite charming yet very spunky and likable, and I personally think she has better screen presence than her dad.All in all, a very enjoyable movie, and whether you are a fan of sports movies or not, this movie is recommended. 8/10 Bethany Cox