The Bad News Bears 1976

Vincent Canby, New York Times: [Ritchie] keeps the sentimentality in check most of the time and obtains first-rate performers from his miniature cast all of the time. Read more

Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader: Michael Ritchie keeps his dead-end cynicism in check and produces a genuinely funny comedy about a Little League team managed by a lovably drunken Walter Matthau. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: [Ritchie] directs scenes for comedy even in the face of his disturbing material and that makes the movie all the more effective; sometimes we laugh, and sometimes we can't, and the movie's working best when we're silent. Read more

Jay Cocks, TIME Magazine: Surprisingly, improbably, The Bad News Bears is the year's funniest movie. Read more

Time Out: Amiably engrossing satire on the 'win ethic' that offers a take-it-or-leave-it approach to its serious points about enforcing precociousness on kids, but consistently delights with its panoramic comic invention. Read more

Variety Staff, Variety: An extremely funny adult-child comedy film. Read more