#1
Posted: 7/27/05 at 11:03am
RATING: ** out of ****
Everyone's trying to recreate past glory in "Bad News Bears". Director Richard Linklater, who made one of my favorite films of all time ("Waking Life"), is trying to recreate the fun family film atmosphere of "School of Rock" whereas Billy Bob Thornton is trying to recreate his amazingly hilarious past role in "Bad Santa". Out of the two, only Thornton is successful. This is a lugubrious, tired film in which the most novel idea is the fact that children say naughty words, hit each other, and act like little cretins. It was a topic explored in the original film and, while I have not seen it, I am told that it was funnier and more incisive in that one.
Billy Bob Thornton is the only bright spot in this film. He rescues the film from sliding into utter tedium, for the most part. I say for the most part because the ending is quite possibly THE most boring, long, overwrought sequence in easily the entire film. It goes on and on and on and on. It's like Richard Linklater lost his editing software or something. It repeats the same cycle: An aria from "Carmen" plays, A kid misses the ball, Someone makes fun of him, The kid punches him, A huge fight is sparked. Repeat ad naseum. I really felt as if they were filming the game in real time. They must have gone through each player on the roster about twice. Linklater...I wag my finger in shame at you.
Everyone's trying to recreate past glory in "Bad News Bears". Director Richard Linklater, who made one of my favorite films of all time ("Waking Life"), is trying to recreate the fun family film atmosphere of "School of Rock" whereas Billy Bob Thornton is trying to recreate his amazingly hilarious past role in "Bad Santa". Out of the two, only Thornton is successful. This is a lugubrious, tired film in which the most novel idea is the fact that children say naughty words, hit each other, and act like little cretins. It was a topic explored in the original film and, while I have not seen it, I am told that it was funnier and more incisive in that one.
Billy Bob Thornton is the only bright spot in this film. He rescues the film from sliding into utter tedium, for the most part. I say for the most part because the ending is quite possibly THE most boring, long, overwrought sequence in easily the entire film. It goes on and on and on and on. It's like Richard Linklater lost his editing software or something. It repeats the same cycle: An aria from "Carmen" plays, A kid misses the ball, Someone makes fun of him, The kid punches him, A huge fight is sparked. Repeat ad naseum. I really felt as if they were filming the game in real time. They must have gone through each player on the roster about twice. Linklater...I wag my finger in shame at you.
