Coral Gables Historical Archive
The Times
Wednesday, May 5, 1976, page 29 (of 38)
The page
The text of this pageRead by computer from the scan, so some words may be wrong. The page picture is the original.
'Bears' offers solid comments on Little League parent-politics
movie review ... erica meyer Director Michael Ritchie has a real gift for taking the processes of American life and making them reflections of American society, with all its pettiness and grandeur. He did it with politics in The Candidate and with beauty contests in Smile, and now he has done it with Little League in Bad News Bears. Walter Matthau is the coach of a Little League team, the Bears. He's not much of a coach, but he's all the coach they've got - bottle of beer, quick temper, mistaken bouts of conscience and ambition not withstanding. As Matthau struggles with the compulsion of all the adults involved with the League to win versus the desire of the kids to simply play ball and avoid being embarrassed, he stumbles on some unpleasant truths and a couple of down-home triumphs. The kids on his team, including Tatum O'Neal, are super. Their expressive faces mirror every nuance of the emotion behind the game. When Matthau has the team's star - who rescues the losing season - cover for the other kids, the players resent the star's interference. Then, when the coach confesses, they are simply bewildered. Didn't he think they could do it on their own? The movie also has frequent flashes of humor. When the other coaches get commercial sponsors like Denny's or Pizza Hut to buy the kids' baseball uniforms, Matthau's kids sport 'Chico's Bail Bonds' on the back of their Bears' shirts. Matthau is the ideal actor for the role. A permanent resigned grimace on his mobile face, he slouches and grouches throughout. Though not beyond realizing the impact of his actions, he is alternately uncaring and concerned, cruel and kindly. Matthau provides dimensions to the character that elevate this movie beyond a simple kids' baseball saga. Actually this isn't a movie for small children, especially for small children who play Little League ball - unless their parents are prepared for a real discussion of whether it's how you play the game that counts or the final count on the scoreboard. The Little League is as political as anything else, according to Bad News Bears, and when it turns out to be fun too - well, that's simply a happy accident, a triumph of sheer luck over politics. The movie has some flaws (the photography is brilliant in some places, erratic in others; the various adult characters could be stronger) but it is classy and touching. And very human.
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