Bad News Bears (www.the-usher.com)

"It's bad news for them"

After having a brief career in the Major League, Morris Buttermaker (Thornton) still lives on his former baseball glories even though he is a wasted up drunk, who runs an unsuccessful exterminator business. When Liz Whitewood (Gay Harden) pays him to coach her son's little league team, he reluctantly agrees but what greets him is probably the worst team ever to play the sport.

Hollywood's lack of imagination continues with another remake but does the new 'Bad News Bears' have what it takes to hit a home run or will it strike out?

When it comes to sports movies, especially those involving kids, the audience knows exactly what is going to happen even before they take their seats. Even if the players involved are the worst you have ever seen and the man in charge is a wasted out, selfish drunk you know there is going to be a montage that will see them turn things around and become competitive players. This film is no different but there is a lot more fun than your average sports as the players get there.

The reason for this is that director Richard Linklater is involved. Famed for his character driven dramatic and comedic pieces like 'Before Sunrise', 'Dazed and Confused' and 'School of Rock', the director really knows how to handle character and it shows in this movie. He gets the best out of the relatively young and inexperienced cast, as he did in 'School of Rock' and has a great leading actor to push the film in the right comedic direction.

When it comes to playing washed out bums, who curse a lot and basically don't give a damn, Billy Bob Thornton is your man. As Morris Buttermaker, he plays a man who lives on a past triumph but has lost his drive for everything except women and drink. He has also lost his passion of the game and really doesn't want to take on the job as the coach of the Bears. This is a role that Billy Bob Thornton can revel in as it really plays to his acting strengths. He really has fun with the character as he steps into the rather large shoes left by the original actor, Walter Matthau.

The Bears themselves are played by a good mix of very different child actors. Like he did in 'School of Rock', Linklater stays away from the usual stereotypical, picture perfect child star and brings in a mixed bag of more normal looking kids. Sammi Kane Kraft as pitcher Amanda Whurlitzer, Timmy Deters as hothead Tanner Boyle and Jeffrey Tedmori as pushover Garo Daragebrigadian being the highlights. When you add into the mix Greg Kinnear and Marcia Gay Harden, you have a good cast to bring the baseball story to life.

'Bad News Bears' is one of the better remakes to grace the silver screen again. Richard Linklater and his creative time make the story just as much fun as it was in 1976. It still suffers from the usual problems associated with sports movies but it isn't as predictable as you might have been expecting. While is might not quite be a home run, it does proves quite a few base hits.

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, the movie is presented well.

BONUS FEATURES

Commentary from director Richard Linklater and co-screenplay writers
Screenwriters Glen Ficarra and John Requa join the man at the helm as they talk about the 2005 update of the 'Bad News Bears'. This very chatty and fun commentary has the trio talk about their reasons for doing the film and the responsibility they had in updating the original baseball favourite. Linklater talks about how 'School of Rock' prepared him for the movie, giving him an understanding of how to work with kids and he also talks about his love of baseball. The screenwriting duo highlights the changes they made to original scripts, the new characters and the actors cast in the roles. This is a good commentary track that fans of the movie and the director should enjoy listening to.

At Bat with the Bears (11.34 mins)
Director Richard Linklater, producer J. Geyer Kosinski, executive producer Marcus Viscidi and stars Billy Bob Thornton, Marcia Gay Harden and Greg Kinnear talk about remaking a much loved sports movie classic. The director and stars talk about how they became involved in the picture and their motivation for remaking the film. They also talk about the main adult characters of the piece and the casting of the kids.

Writing the Bad News Bears (9.20 mins)
Director Richard Linklater, screenwriters Glen Ficarra and John Requa and star Billy Bob Thornton talks about remaking the 'Bad News Bears'. They reveal that not many changes were made from the original script with only a few character traits and a few new characters added. They also talk about the diversity of the kids, revealing interesting facts about the updated dialogue and the amount of baseball research that went into the screenplay.

Scouting the Big Leagues (10.20 mins)
Director Richard Linklater, casting director Joseph Middleton and stars Sammi Kane Kraft and Jeffrey Davis talk about casting the Bad News Bears. They talk about the different kinds of kids they had to cast with the characters of Amanda and Kelly having to be able to actually play baseball and the other kids having to be actors. We see the audition tapes for each of the kids as the director and casting director talk about the reasons why they got the part.

Spring Training (4.42 mins)
Director Richard Linklater, technical advisors Greg Smith and Steve Savage and stars Sammi Kane Kraft, Jeffery Davis, K.C. Harris, Brandon Craggs and Ridge Canipe take you behind the scenes of the three weeks of baseball training the cast had to go through to prepare for the shoot.

Deleted Scenes (8.54 mins)
Entitled 'Payoff', 'Don't trust Whitey', 'Play Catch - Take 1', 'Coach and Pitcher talk', 'Teasing the pitcher' and 'Playing football', these deleted or extended scenes have optional commentary from director Richard Linklater and screenwriters Glen Ficarra and John Requa.

Outtakes (1.32 mins)
Entitled 'International superstar Billy Bob Thornton', 'Line-up' and 'Butterfingers' these outtakes have optional commentary by Director Richard Linklater and screenwriters Glen Ficarra and John Requa.

Theatrical Trailer (1.32 mins)
Watch the trailer that was used to promote the film in cinemas.

OVERALL

Paramount has done a decent job with the DVD extras for 'Bad News Bears'. There are some good featurettes and an excellent commentary track that make this a good package for fans of the remake, making this a good buy.

DVD

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2005