Billy Bob is no Walter Matthau and this tepid remake of the 70's semi-classic comedy with the terrific Tatum O'Neal is also not nearly as good as the original in any way.
Billy Bob could have slept his way through this dud(maybe he did), as his flaky, drunk, cursing, sleazy, womanizing Buttermaker coach role was just the way he is in real life. The filmmaker obviously hired him for his Bad Santa "presence" and surely not for anything else, as his trashy bad boy act is wearing pretty thin these days as he "plays" it in every film he is in. Maybe filmmakers just love it, but it is really getting old and worn, especially in this film that got no spark at all from his lead character. It just was just plain flat all the way to the end.
The only thing that made me stay to the end was the kids, as their typical rowdy and funny antics were by far the best thing in this movie. Marcia Gay Harden was sabotaged by a dumb part as a hypocritical super-mom, and Greg Kinnear was way too bland and fair-minded for his All-American dad role as an opposing coach of the best team. He played exactly like Pat Boone would have played it, with not nearly enough yin, "win at all costs" opposition to the yang Billy Bob part. Vic Morrow, with his great underlying but veiled "kill or be killed" menace, was so much better in the original it is beyond comparison.
Finally, there was no essential dramatic tension anywhere in the story, even in the final championship game. No good film will ever be made without it. Blah, boring, dull, vapid, banal, ho hum...how many more pejoratives are there for this sorry loser that should have never been made?
See the original instead. Save money and have a way better time.
Billy Bob could have slept his way through this dud(maybe he did), as his flaky, drunk, cursing, sleazy, womanizing Buttermaker coach role was just the way he is in real life. The filmmaker obviously hired him for his Bad Santa "presence" and surely not for anything else, as his trashy bad boy act is wearing pretty thin these days as he "plays" it in every film he is in. Maybe filmmakers just love it, but it is really getting old and worn, especially in this film that got no spark at all from his lead character. It just was just plain flat all the way to the end.
The only thing that made me stay to the end was the kids, as their typical rowdy and funny antics were by far the best thing in this movie. Marcia Gay Harden was sabotaged by a dumb part as a hypocritical super-mom, and Greg Kinnear was way too bland and fair-minded for his All-American dad role as an opposing coach of the best team. He played exactly like Pat Boone would have played it, with not nearly enough yin, "win at all costs" opposition to the yang Billy Bob part. Vic Morrow, with his great underlying but veiled "kill or be killed" menace, was so much better in the original it is beyond comparison.
Finally, there was no essential dramatic tension anywhere in the story, even in the final championship game. No good film will ever be made without it. Blah, boring, dull, vapid, banal, ho hum...how many more pejoratives are there for this sorry loser that should have never been made?
See the original instead. Save money and have a way better time.