Coach Buttermaker is a former minor league baseball player that now supports himself by cleaning pools.  He has somehow gained the job as a Little League baseball coach, which he does with his cigar in one hand while the other holds his cool beer.  In other words, he does not care for much other than drinking himself into stupor and gaining nicotine induced relaxation.  However, the kids that he has been assigned to coach begin to look up to him, as he brags about his ancient baseball stories while they help him clean pools.

When the first game comes around, it is evident that he has not coached or taught them anything.  The game becomes a lesson in humiliation, as they also realize that Coach Buttermaker is a phony.  Nonetheless, Buttermaker learns a valuable lesson from it himself, as he decides to change his approach and really help the kids. He teaches them how to field a ball and how to bat, but also how to get along.  It becomes a roller coaster that slowly ascends before the big pay off.

The first thing that some might react to on watching The Bad News Bears is the explicit language presented in the film.  This could probably make some viewers somewhat upset, but it carries a message.  The message is that the children are products of society, which in turn is governed by adults.  Ritchie pushes this same message onto the baseball field where the lesson of winning and having fun are lesson's taught by adults.

The film has the feel of a documentary, or something by Robert Altman where the audience does not get to know the audience in detail, but an emphasis is built on the environment where the characters coexist.  Yet, it is intended as a comedy, which could be a disastrous mix.  However, Michael Ritchie pulls it off by presenting a baseball film that meets somewhere on middle ground where the audience will learn that winning and having fun must meet on mutual ground for a pastime to exist.

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COUNTRY

USA

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