Sorry, this movie sucks

Excellent adaptation.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

The original "Bad News Bears" is one of my personal favourites. I can watch it time and again and it never fails to give me a blast. When Richard Linklater's 2005 remake came out the reviews were so negative that I didn't watch it on purpose -- why spoil a wonderful memory? I finally caught up with the remake last night and actually enjoyed it. The negative reviews had got it wrong. Richard Linklater captured the spirit of the original and time-tunneled it thirty years (if you catch my drift). The role of grumpy coach Morris Buttermaker, played by Walter Matthau in the original, suits Billy Bob Thornton to a T. The other roles are also well cast, Greg Kinnear as the uptight Little League coach Roy Bullock and Marcia Gay Harden as the cougar baseball mum stand out. Most importantly, the kids also stand the comparison to their 1976 peers.The original was noted for being edgy and non-PC (a term that wasn't even invented back then). Coach Buttermaker is a relentless alcoholic who drinks and drives, and even hands out cans of beer to his wards, and wild child Tanner refers to his fellow players as a bunch of "Jews, sp#cs (and) n#ggers". Some detractors criticise Linklater for selling out to political correctness because he doesn't repeat these scenes verbatim. They overlook that a remake is not the same as a rip-off, and that the rewritten script packs enough edge, for example when Buttermaker makes the kids fill in for him in his day job as an exterminator.It's sad that nonprofessional reviewers seem to be prone to howl with the wolves and denigrate a perfectly good remake as an epic failure.

I've never seen the original "Bad News Bears", which is probably why I managed to enjoy this movie. I didn't get stuck comparing the two versions, I saw this remake as a movie in it's own right. With that said, it still isn't a great film no matter how you look at it. Billy Bob Thornton mouthing of to kids is a bit that never gets old, but all of this stuff has been done better in "Bad Santa". And eventually they find out he's pretty kind behind his rough exterior, yadda yadda yadda. Luckily there are still some hilarious lines worked in here and there, the writing occasionally take a break from lazily connecting the dots and actually come up with something original. The kids also act surprisingly well, although I say that about pretty much every child actor who doesn't look at the camera more than twice a scene. "Bad News Bears" isn't anything you haven't seen before, but it's entertaining I guess.

You know, sometimes a low expectation of something can really give you a pleasant surprise. This Richard Linklater remake of a great 1976 Walter Matthau movie isn't close to being brilliant or remotely fresh. In fact the term "if it ain't broke then why fix it" springs to mind, because an update wasn't needed at all. But to me, and a few other hardy {foolhardy} souls, this Bad News Bears is immensely funny and far from hindered by its predictability {Linklater and his team stick rigidly to the original film}. And while nobody, and I mean nobody, can do sarcasm and hang-dawg like Matthau, Billy Bob Thornton is no bad substitute to have coming off the bench. His delivery of some truly priceless lines alone make the film worth watching. That he is at ease with the array of child actors on show also eases the film thru its sticky {potentially sickly} moments.In a sports based genre that is full of like for like pictures, The Bad News Bears original is still one of its acerbic highlights. This remake does fall well short in the class department, but on a gags to laughs ratio? It nicely hits the ball out of the park.5.5/10 to many weary observers, 7.5/10 for me and the rest of the Morris Buttermilk appreciation society.

Boozing rat exterminator Billy Bob Thornton (as Morris Buttermaker) was once a major league baseball player… for about three minutes. Then, he got ousted for punching an ump. Presently, low-cut Marcia Gay Harden (as Liz Whitewood) hires him to lead son Ridge Canipe (as Toby)'s Little League team, against tight-shorted rival coach Greg Kinnear (as Roy Bullock). Can Mr. Thornton transform a "ragtag group of inept players" into a group of successful ballplayers? Well, duh...The filmmakers were obviously struggling to see how many times they could get the letters "s", "h", "i", and "t" to appear consecutively in the script. Yes, "Bad News Bears" is a tailor-made PG-13-rated pre-teen pseudo-comedy. Yet, it manages to funny. You can watch it if you're post-teen, and occasionally laugh. Sammi Kane Kraft (as Amanda Whurlitzer) and the age appropriately cast baseball team are the most valuable players, overcoming clichés with natural performances.***** Bad News Bears (7/22/05) Richard Linklater ~ Billy Bob Thornton, Sammi Kane Kraft, Greg Kinnear, Jeffrey Davies