 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Bad News Bears (2005)
- Review Date: December 12, 2005
- PG-13
- Genre: Comedy
- 2005
Common Sense Media says
Scatological remake of a not-so-innocent movie.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that the movie features kids cursing, behaving badly, fighting, and drinking non-alcoholic beer. Their poor role model is their coach, who drinks (to the point of passing out), smokes, swears, hangs out at a strip club, makes racist and sexist comments (as well as ignorant wisecracks about a boy in a wheelchair and another who is overweight), and teaches one of the kids to make martinis. As the coach works as an exterminator, the movie also features visual jokes about dead rats and insects. Though the coach learns to be a more tolerant and mature adult, he remains ornery, and has one-night sex with the mother of one of his players.
What's the story?
Retired minor league pitcher Morris Buttermaker (Billy Bob Thornton) played 2/3 of an inning in the majors, at a time "long ago and far away." Sarcastic, frustrated, and frequently drunk, he agrees to coach a Little League team that includes players of various abilities (one is in a wheelchair, another is overweight, another short and puny, etc.) and backgrounds ("I got the damn League of Nations here," he grumps). As Buttermaker squares off against the rival team's coach, a bully named Bullock (Greg Kinnear), he also comes to respect his own team, as much for their oddities as for their spirit. Everyone's happy when the team begins winning, after Buttermaker recruits a great pitcher, his ex's daughter, Amanda (Sammi Kane Kraft, a real life Little League pitcher) and a great hitter, long-haired, just-out-of-juvie skater boi Kelly (Jeffrey Davies), who has a crush on Amanda.
Is it any good?
This lackluster remake of the much-loved 1976 Walter Matthau movie doesn't bring much new to the table. Nostalgic for a time when little kids uttering obscenities was considered hilarious mischief, BAD NEWS BEARS is surprisingly unimaginative, given director Richard Linklater's previous displays of ingenuity, including School of Rock, Waking Life, and Slacker. (Sadly, the film's standout aspect is editing: scene to scene, it's spectacularly incoherent.)
Basic plot: mean coach turns nice, and team comes to believe in itself. Kraft (who is quite good) and Thornton develop something like a charming rhythm, but for the most part, the film feels sloppy, riding on the lingering appeal of the original.
Explore, discuss, enjoy
Families can talk about the film's treatment of the kids' differences in skills, sizes, attitudes, and backgrounds. While the coach is equally abusive to all the children, the film also makes some visual jokes based in their appearances, accents, and first languages (two brothers speak only Spanish). How does Amanda deal with being the only girl in the league? How do the kids learn to work together as a team? How does the coach get over his long-held bitterness and learn to appreciate imperfection?
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- Teens & kids
Kid, 12 years old
April 9, 2008
AGE
it was ok, but so much cussing is unnessesarry
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Teen, 17 years old
July 20, 2010
AGE
funny terrible coaching billy bob thorton did a good job but to much kids cussing
What other families should know:
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Teen, 15 years old
April 9, 2008
AGE
This movie was funny
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Kid, 12 years old
April 9, 2008
AGE
What were they thinking!!!
Really bad movie!!
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Adult
April 9, 2008
AGE
An okay comedy with a terrible rating of PG-13!
Holy! This movie is completely R rated material if this was a drama! The language is extremely strong, crude, vulgar, and explicit. 10-14 year old kids use the S word about 80 times in this movie, and the coach says the F word once, and the S wore about 60 times. There is other extremely strong language and references to sexual objects. A man is insulted for wearing tight beige jeans and is told that his private parts are showing. Underage kids drink, 10-14 year old, and go to a strip-joint, Hooters. Very R rated material and not the greatest comedy in the world.
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Teen, 16 years old
April 9, 2008
AGE
Funny, But Should Be An R
This is a pretty funny movie, despite the bad reviews. The language is really bad, almost every sentence has a swear word and the coach drinks so much that he passes out on the field. He also has sex with one of the kid's mom. This pushes the PG-13 and should be an R. If you're about 15 or 16, it's ok.
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Teen, 16 years old
June 24, 2011
AGE
lots of language
it had alot of language for a 12 year old baseball team, and they coach is a druck so some drinking, but the movie was pretty good it self i wasnt really expecting it but it ended up being a pretty good movie.
What other families should know:
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Parent of 13 year old
August 13, 2010
AGE
PG-13 level comedy has a lot of language and drinking.No uses of f--k,though.
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| Studio: | Paramount Pictures |
| Director: | Richard Linklater |
| Cast: | Billy Bob Thornton, Greg Kinnear, Marcia Gay Harden |
| Genre: | Comedy |
| Run time: | 111 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | July 22, 2005 |
| DVD release date: | December 13, 2005 |
| MPAA rating: | PG-13 |
| MPAA explanation: | rude behavior, language throughout, some sexuality and thematic elements. |
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