Morris Buttermaker, a former pro baseball player, was ejected from the game for attacking an umpire and now works as an exterminator. More interested in boozing and broads than baseball, Buttermaker is lured back into the game by Liz Whitewood, an attorney whose class action suit has forced the Little League to accept all players, regardless of their abilities. As the new coach of the Bears, the most losing team in Little League history, Buttermaker has his work cut out for him. Initially, he's only in it for the paycheck, but he and his inept players have a transformative effect on one another that is wholly unexpected, and completely remarkable.

The movie has absolutely no chance of succeeding because from the very get go they handicapped and handcuffed themselves with a Pg-13 rating. The original Bad News Bears was such a success partly because at the time the ex-ball player drinking and cussing at a bunch of little leaguers was so out in left field as far as decency went that you were shocked into paying attention. But that was 29 years ago and movie goers are a much more cynical group and the jokes for the most part just fell flat. Bad Santa was the perfect movie for this abusive kind of behavior because it was shocking and it was funny and it didn’t hold back as it was rated R. Bad News Bears is nothing more than a poorly done rehash of a much better movie. With the same jokes and less heart than the original you are much better off skipping the remake and just seeing the original.

If anyone could have saved this movie it would have been Billy Bob Thornton as he might be one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood. But sadly by handicapping his language and his behavior for the PG-13 rating it didn’t let him be as effective as he could have been. Rather it just made the movie feel like a watered down remake of Bad Santa. With Billy Bob unable to save the movie that left it up to the kids to try and salvage it and besides Brandon Craggs who plays Mike Engelberg they fail to save the movie. Brandon Craggs is the lone bright spot of the movie as he truly delivers a funny and fresh performance. Craggs is responsible for most of the humor of the movie and almost makes the movie worth watching. The movie fails as a remake, as a comedy, as a sports movie and as a way to wile away the afternoon.

Another movie that tests the politically correct waters just like Bad Santa did in 2003. But the difference is the problems that have arisen around little league sports with overly involved parents. In the end Billy Bob’s character finds heart and the true meaning of sportsmanship while the other teams coach is nothing more than a bully who puts winning over the importance of teaching young kids sportsmanship and fair play. Too many parents have become too involved in team sports and the crazed soccer mom stories are becoming more frequent. I doubt the movie has any real wisdom to impart on the subject but is interesting in the fact that the drunkard who doesn’t care in the beginning teaches more about fair play than the parents of the movie.
2 stars out of 5