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As usual, Linklater doesn’t do what others
do. In other words, he never makes a film as everyone assumes he is.
Sure, this is a remake, but this is a kick in the balls remake, just
like the original was a kick in the balls kid’s film. There’s profanity,
crude humor, sexual innuendos, and Billy Bob Joe Bob Thorton channels
“Bad Santa” for his variation of Buttermaker. And I was pleased. Thorton
can play asshole well, and I laughed at his utterly sharp one-liners,
period.
Well, I guess every director has to have one
film that’s commercial to grant them enough dough to get them through
the rough times. Even one of my favorite directors of all time, Richard
Linklater. It’s not that Linklater can’t do a commercial film, because
“School of Rock” was great, but this is a remake. And Linklater is
better than this. He’s ten times better. And he can make all the excuses
he wants, but I’m still shocked the same man who created “Waking Life”
was behind the camera of this remake. The problem with this remake is
that the original film was a zeitgeist for children sports films. It
paved the way for hundreds of similar titles on the shelves, and now
this remake just doesn’t seem like it’s ever treading new ground. It’s
not innovative. And of course, there’s the fact that there’s no Tatum
O’Neil or Walter Matthau to keep the chuckles coming. Shit, I had such a
crush on Tatum O’Neil when I was a kid, and she’s still pretty damn hot.
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I digress. Linklater’s directorial prowess
can not be argued, but “Bad News Bears” just isn’t good
enough to watch again, even when you compare it to the
original. Even when you don’t compare it to the original,
there’s just not enough material here to warrant a re-watch.
Hell, coming from a hardcore Linklater fan, take that with a
great weight. I know my opinions matter to you, don’t
pretend. Worst of all, in spite of the profanity and crude
humor, there’s no surefire instance in which this stands out
from the original. |
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Shit, there’s even a gag where Buttermaker
tries to sneak a dwarf on the team as a kid, a joke that really failed
to hit any definition of the word funny. For all intents and purposes,
Sammi Kane Kraft pulls her part off well enough. You have to credit the
production team for hiring an actual pitcher, but her performance is as
stale as you can imagine. She’s simply not Tatum O’Neil. Tatum’s
character was a wise allecky little snot, a chip off the old block from
Matthau’s Buttermaker, where as Kraft has little to no charisma, and can
never hold up her end with Thorton. She’s simply not a worthy foil to
Thorton. Otherwise, “Bad News Bears” is just half cocked. It pussyfoots
and grabs for edge, when it’s really nothing worth remembering.
Nowhere near as good as the original. It’s
not as funny, not as energetic, and hardly as edgy, but Linklater does a
competent job of creating an almost watchable remake, thanks to the
solid performances and dialogue that may inspire a giggle or two. It’s a
mediocre movie, and that’s sad, considering this is Richard Linklater.
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