Premise: An alcoholic former Minor Leaguer coaches a rag tag youth baseball team.
I'm a simple man. I love swearing children and adults talking down to kids. That's what Bad News Bears delivers, so I really liked the movie. I can almost stop there.
Here's something that always sort of bothered me. I saw the 2005 Richard Linklater remake years ago and loved it. They made sure it was at least PG-13. Billy Bob Thornton didn't hold back hurling insults at the kids and being genuinely depraved. What's not to like? I remember that movie not getting great reviews though. Often people just complained that the original was better, which is just a cousin of saying "the book was better" about other movies. Now I've seen the original. Guess what? It's really good too. It was more original at the time. It has Tatum O'Neal as one of the kids, which immediately gives it more prestige. I guess you could criticize the remake for being a little too similar. Then again, the original has some aspects that haven't aged very well, so what's the harm in having a TV-friendly remake that's nearly identical? I'll give Walter Matthau the edge as the better Morris Buttermaker, although I like that Thornton's take is more openly abusive. Matthau treats the kids as a nuisance. Coming off Bad Santa, Thornton is openly hostile to the kids.
I guess what I'm saying is, watch either version. They're both enjoyable in their own way and hit the underdog sports story beats well.
Verdict: Strongly Recommend
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