Themes: Underdogs, Baseball Players, Coaches and Players
Main Cast: William Devane, Clifton James, Jackie Earle Haley, Jimmy Baio, Chris Barnes
Release Year: 1977
Country: US
Run Time: 99 minutes
Plot
The misfit kiddie baseball team from the first film is given the opportunity to play in a Junior League match between double-header games at the Houston Astrodome. Two obstacles stand in their way: beloved teammate Timmy Lupus (Quinn Smith) has broken his leg, and the team has no adult coach. Attempting to change their luck, star player Kelly Leak (Jackie Earle Haley) tries to talk his estranged dad (William Devane) into coaching and locates a self-proclaimed hotshot pitcher named Carmen Ronzonni (Jimmy Baio). Watch for quickie cameos by real-life Houston Astros members Robert J. Watson, Enos Cabell, Roger Metzger, James Richard, Joe Ferguson, Ken Forsch, William Virdon, and Cesar Cedeno. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
The Bad News Bears didn't really call for a sequel, but studios rarely argue with a hefty box office -- and so was born the unnecessary The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training. Since unnecessary sequels really exist only to lure in viewers who were pleased with the original, they usually try to duplicate the earlier film as much as possible -- hence Training's insistence that the Bears are a bunch of losers, even though the first film was all about them learning to work together and be a successful team. To overcome this, Training needs to have a bunch of clever plot twists and be loaded with snappy dialogue. Instead, the plot is tired and clichéd and the dialogue confuses scatology with wit. Worse, the writers add in an estranged father-son subplot that is entirely too sentimental for the surroundings. What saves Training is its cast; the kids are a good little bunch of actors (and Jackie Earle Haley is considerably more than that), and William Devane adds a good deal of punch. There's nothing special about The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training, but its performers make it much more painless than it could have been. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Erin Blunt - Ahmad Abdul Rahim; Jaime Escobedo - Jose Agilar; George Gonzales - Miguel Agilar; Alfred Lutter - Ogilvie; Brett Marx - Jimmy Feldman; David Pollock - Rudi Stein; Quinn Smith - Timmy Lupus; David Stambaugh - Toby Whitewood; Jeffrey Louis Starr - Mike Englewood; Fred Stuthman - Lester Eastland; Dolph Sweet - Coach Manning; Lane Smith - Officer Mackie; Pat Corley - Coach Morrie Slater; Jason Cooper - Leon Waterson; Gene Rader - Grocery Clerk; Ted Dawson - Astrodome Announcer
Credit
Stephen Myles Berger - Art Director, Jack Martell - Costume Designer, Michael Daves - First Assistant Director, Michael Pressman - Director, John W. Wheeler - Editor, Norman Gimbel - Composer (Music Score), Craig Safan - Composer (Music Score), Norman Gimbel - Songwriter, Craig Safan - Songwriter, Fred Koenekamp - Cinematographer, Leonard J. Goldberg - Producer, Fred R. Price - Set Designer, John K. Wilkinson - Sound/Sound Designer, Paul Brickman - Screenwriter
