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By
WAYNE KLEIN
Remakes good or bad dog our
entertainment existence. Why? A good story needs
to be retold. A good story needs to be told more
than once. It's a waste otherwise. The movies
represent our myths. We've seen two remakes and
two sequels to "King Kong" and "Dracula" has been
adapted many, many times (badly for the most part
I might add) so why not the comedy about the team
of baseball misfits who could? Billy Bob Thornton
takes on the role that Walter Matthau essayed in
the original 1976 film. The social misfits angle
has been updated with kids that behave worse and
have their own social stigmas. They still kick
butt. Alcoholic pest worker Morris Buttermaker
(Thornton) briefly played in the "big game" before
washing out and using booze as his crutch. He's
recruited to coach a kids' baseball team that play
so badly that they could be beat by a tree in the
wind.
Michael Ritiche's ("Smile," "The Bad News Bears,"
"Downhill Racer," "The Candidate") original is a
five star classic that would be difficult to beat.
Luckily this remake doesn't try to beat
it--instead Linklater ("Dazed and Confused,"
"Before Sunset," "The School of Rock," "A Scanner
Darkly") just tries to update it for a new
audience. His efforts deserve 3 1/2 stars. It
ain't perfect but it's a whole lot of fun. Here's
the good news-this film like the original is just
as nasty, funny and outrageous in its own way.
There was probably the temptation to make this
into a PC Disney movie. Luckily the writers and
director Richard Linklater resisted temptation and
made a film that both pays homage to the original
film and retell the story for a new audience.
"Bears" hits a home run on DVD with an very good
transfer. Detail is exceptionally good and color
rich with accurate flesh tones. The color and
detail are remarkably good. The 5.1 catches every
ground ball that the cast hit.
"At Bat with The Bears" features Linklater, Billy
Bob Thornton discussing his attraction to doing a
remake something that he has avoided. Thornton
mentions that the big attraction for him was
taking on a role so strongly associated with
Matthau. "Scouting for the Big Leagues" focuses on
the casting sessions and includes bits and pieces
of the audition tapes done by the kid actors.
Linklater felt that finding actors that could both
play the roles and project distinctive
personalities was the biggest casting challenge.
The other challenge according to Linklater was
finding an actress that could play the role
convincingly of Amanda Whurlitzer and someone who
could actually throw the ball well. The "outtakes"
don't amount to much and aren't all that
memorable. The "Video Baseball Cards" is a clever
way to give us a bit of background on the actors
in the main roles.
The commentary by director Linklater and writers
Glenn Ficarra and John Requa provides an
entertaining glimpse behind-the-scenes. The
challenge of translating a classic film without
losing the flavor of the original for a
contemporary audience is discussed. Ficarra and
Requa are depreciating about their efforts
crediting Bill Lancaster with writing the perfect
comedy (he did). Sadly, Lancaster is no longer
around to hear his efforts praised (or to see this
fine remake) as he died in 1997 having written
only a handful of movies including John
Carpenter's remake of "The Thing."
Remakes are always a questionable affair. Luckily
Linklater and his collaborators have fashioned one
that manages to be unique, funny and yet also
stands up pretty well when compared to the
original. Not insulting the original is an art by
itself and "Bad News Bears" (what happened to
"The"? Hollywood is becoming increasingly
illiterate) manages to be entertaining and
worthwhile without diminishing the terrific
original film directed by Michael Richtie. |
