I had some reservations about watching "The Bad News Bears". I didn't grow up with the movie, and baseball isn't exactly a big deal in Australia.
I was surprised by what I saw.
I think this one may have been made before "child stars" became such a massive part of pop culture, with the two Coreys in the '80s and Macaulay Culkin in the '90s.
It's also before Hollywood began churning out kids' movies like paint-by-numbers.
Sure, there are still many of the cliches we know and many of us will probably never tire of: the cynical, down-and-out coach, either a has-been or a never-was, gets stuck with a ragtag children's team, none of whom show any promise, and yet many of whom capture our hearts with their quirky individuality: there's the nerd, the misunderstood delinquent from the wrong side of the tracks, the fat kid, the ethnic minorities, and eventually... the girl (ta da).
But what's interesting about the "Bad News Bears" is that it comes to you rough around the edges - edges that Disney would completely remove with their "Mighty Ducks" flicks, among many others. For one thing, the language is quite harsh. I never thought I would see a so-called "Family" movie from America that you wouldn't be able to show in a school classroom, but here we are. Not only is there near-constant swearing, but one of the kids lets loose with some appalling racial epithets not once but twice, and the movie treats it more as funny than shocking.
Plus, the team doesn't really seem to proceed that much, and nor does the Matthau character - as who else but the crusty coach - really soften THAT much over the course of the movie. Emilio Estevez in "Champions" and John Candy in "Cool Runnings" both had shame in their past that they had to recover from by, er, helping their team win (?). "The Bad News Bears" doesn't take pains to underline its cliches the way that movie did.
What you end up with, I think, is a movie which is a whole lot more real than any of those. The cliches are there but you have to dig to find them. "The Bad News Bears" is a nostalgiac classic for anyone who grew up with it, but I find it unlikely parents or teachers would show this to their kids over "Champions". This one asks a little more of them, including maturity.
