Billy Bob 'Bad' again

In previews for "Bad News Bears," it looks as though Billy Bob Thornton brings back his piss-drunk "Bad Santa" character to play a Little League baseball coach. He drinks, passes out on the pitcher's mound, cusses in every clip and to further add to the "Bad Santa" connection, the "Bears" script is written by the duo that penned the former film. \nWhile the original version of this film (1976 starring Walter Matthau) was made with a more of a childhood audience in mind, you may want to think twice before bringing your 10-year-old to see this remake. The characters, including the young ball players, utilize every cuss word short of the F-bomb, and they do so in just about every scene in the movie. Combine this with hilarious one-liners ("Baseball. You love it. It doesn't always love you back. Sort of like a German chick.), and racial and handicap jokes ("I'm a freaking paraplegic"), and you've got a great comedy probably not intended for all ages. \nThornton plays Morris Buttermaker, a washed-up ex-pitcher whose only moment of glory was pitching 2/3 of an inning for the Seattle Mariners. Over the years, Buttermaker has turned into a lazy, pathetic drunk who works as an exterminator, until he is asked to coach a Little League baseball team full of rejects. These kids would otherwise not be allowed to play baseball if it were not for an ambitious lawyer mom (Marcia Gay Harden) who believes everyone should be able to play baseball. The team line-up includes one wheelchair-bound boy, a fat lard, a tiny weakling and many other misfits. \nAt first, Buttermaker cuts practice to take the kids on his extermination runs and gets drunk while they do the work. But after getting humiliated in the opening game by Coach Roy Bullock (Greg Kinnear) and the Yankees, he decides to teach the kids to play baseball. Buttermaker enlists the help of Amanda (Sammi Kraft), the daughter of a former girlfriend, to be the pitching ace, and local bad boy Kelly (Jeff Davies) to provide some hitting.\nThe great thing about this movie is that it is an underdog story where trickery and mischievousness are tools for success rather than perseverance and teamwork. It would not be believable for a team of complete losers to suddenly turn into all-stars, and so this works well in the film. \nBilly Bob Thornton is excellent as Buttermaker. He is a loser and he knows it -- this makes him likeable, not to mention hilarious. But while he was a one man cussing show in "Bad Santa," the kids help out quite frequently this time around. "Bad News Bears" proves that with a lot of cussing and mit hurling, even baseball can be bearable.