THE BAD NEWS BEARS (1976). So many reasons why this is my favorite movie. One reason: we never see Buttermaker at home or see him looking at old pictures from when he was with Amanda's mom, or from his playing days. If this film was made now? 100% guarantee that'd be a note.

In fact, you don't see any character's home life. One upside: the story never slows down. Every single scene moves a story line and/or character arc forward. There's just no wasted scenes. No lulls. It's all story progression plus set-up/payoffs.

Another upside: the film never relies on home scenes to "explain" characters. We never stop the story to check-in on Kelly Leak's fucked up home life. Instead, we infer serious Leak family parent issues via Kelly's behavior towards Roy Turner and Cleveland at the ballpark.

We're almost exclusively in the sealed-off world of the Bears. We feel the pressure that Ahmad Abdul Rahim's star athlete siblings place on him w/o seeing them. We get to imagine the hot mess that Amanda's mom must be. All of those pressures are felt without stopping the story.

But the kids on the team can't be explained away by their parents either. Councilman Whitewood is a shithead: he buys off Buttermaker to manage the team to make some political statement, shows up to give a speech on opening day, then leaves before his son's team takes the field.

And yet, when you rewatch the movie, you can't help but notice that the shithead councilman's son, Toby Whitewood, is secretly the movie's conscience: he's the one who alerts Buttermaker that Ahmad's despondent in a tree, who stands up for Lupus when he blows the game...

...and who tries to convince Buttermaker to pull Amanda from the championship game before she blows out her injured arm. The father only does things based on how well they'll flatter his own profile. The son only does things based on the well-being of others.

I think I've said before that THE BAD NEWS BEARS is the film that best captures the pathos of being a kid in a world run by adults. I think the ultimate triumph of the kids on the Bears themselves isn't athletic (they lose the championship game).

I think the ultimate triumph of the kids on the Bears is that they come to see the adults lording over them -- both Buttermaker & Roy Turner -- for the self-centered egotists that they are. They see the adult world with clarity. And yet they come out the other side with dignity.

And not just dignity: the kids on the Bears lose the big game and yet somehow -- beers in hand -- have more moral authority than anyone else in the film. Partially by their rag tag camaraderie, but mostly by their total refusal to buy into the respectability game of the adults.

The Bears are handed a second place trophy and their rivals -- the more upwardly mobile Yankees -- finally verbalize some public respect for them. And w/o any prompting from Buttermaker, Timmy Lupus, the least of the Bears & the one kid singled out for bullying by the Yankees...

...throws the second place trophy at the Yankees and tells them to shove it up their ass. And Buttermaker and the whole team cheer and start dumping beers on each other. And I really think what the film is celebrating is these kids refusing to join the rat race.

I think that's Buttermaker's triumph as well. After his terrible scene with Amanda -- she reaches out to him as a father figure and he throws beer in her face -- he seems beyond redemption. But then he sees his dark double in Roy Turner. He sees himself in his rival. And changes.

Everything's deferred to the future: the Bears tell the Yankees to wait 'til next year, Buttermaker promises Amanda to help her with her hitting in the spring. But I think the thrill at the end of the film is the thrill of liberation. They're freed from the world of the Yankees.

I love how the entire film pivots on Roy Turner's son Joey Turner, who up to this point has been the bullying tormentor of the team. But then in an instant, after his father slaps him for a moment's disobedience, it's like Joey sees the entire system he's been controlled by.

In a split second, Joey stops being the tormenting enforcer of his father's worldview and becomes its bravest protestor. I love that he's pretty much devoid of emotion at this moment. He's all clarity and calm. For the first time, he sees his father clearly.

And when Joey Turner walks off the field, his mother doesn't smother him. She stands back and gives her son space. And then he welcomes her to join him as he leaves. It's a tiny thing, but it points to the film's preferred worldview: adults seeing children as fellow humans.

There's so much more I could list. THE BAD NEWS BEARS might have my favorite use of music of any film. The score is so weirdly anachronistic & old-fashioned for such an earthy, grimy film. But it's magic. The editing is perfectly balance b/w forward motion & stalled observation.

It's also populated with perfectly cast minor characters and background players. Every time the camera turns to the stands during one of the games, it's a jolt of authenticity. Etc etc.

THE BAD NEWS BEARS is the CASABLANCA of sports films.