The Bad News Bears (1976)
- Starring:
- Walter Matthau, Tatum O'Neal, (more)
- Director(s):
- Michael Ritchie
- Theatrical MPAA Rating:
- PG
- Category:
- Comedy
Member Rating
My RatingSynopsis of The Bad News Bears
The success this underdog comedy from director Michael Ritchie almost single-handedly spawned the kids' sports film boom of the 1980s and '90s. When beer-breathed ex-minor-league ball player and professional pool cleaner Morris Buttermaker (Walter Matthau) agrees to coach a little league team in the San Fernando Valley, he soon finds he's in over his head, having inherited an assortment of pint-sized peons and talentless losers. They play well-organized teams and lose by tremendous margins, and the parents threaten to disband the Bears to save the kids (and themselves) any further embarrassment. Buttermaker refuses, though, and brings in a pair of ringers: Amanda (Tatum O'Neal), his ex-girlfriend's tomboy daughter, and Kelly (Jackie Earle Haley), a cigarette-smoking delinquent who happens to be a gifted athlete. With their help, the Bears manage to change their losing ways and qualify for the championship, where they face their arch-rivals, the Yankees. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide
- Theatrical Feature Running Time:
- 101 mins
Complete Cast of The Bad News Bears
- Walter Matthau - Coach Morris Buttermaker
- Vic Morrow - Coach Roy Turner
- Ben Piazza - Councilman Whitewood
- Alfred Lutter - Ogilvie
- Shari Summers - Mrs. Turner
- Maurice Marks - Announcer
- Gary Lee Cavagnaro - Engelberg
- Jaime Escobedo - Jose Agilar
- David Pollock - Rudi Stein
- David Stambaugh - Toby Whitewood
- Brett Marx - Jimmy Feldman
- Howard Culver - Newscaster
- George Wyner - White Sox Manager
- Tatum O'Neal - Manda Whurlizer
- Joyce Van Patten - Cleveland
- Jackie Earle Haley - Kelly Leak
- Brandon Cruz - Joey Turner
- Joe Brooks - Umpire
- Quinn Smith - Lupus
- Erin Blunt - Ahmad Abdul Rahim
- George Gonzales - Miguel Agilar
- Chris Barnes - Tanner Boyle
- Scott Firestone - Bear
- Timothy Blake - Mrs. Lupus
- Bill Sorrells - Mr. Tower
- Charles Matthau - Athletic
- Director(s):
- Michael Ritchie
- Writer(s):
- Bill Lancaster
- Producer(s):
- Polly Platt, Stanley Jaffe
- Theatrical MPAA Rating:
- PG(Adult Language, Questionable for Children)
- Categories:
- Comedy
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