Billy Bob Thornton takes over for Walter Matthau from the 1976 original film as the shiftless coach of an inept youth baseball team, but he’s not into not being into it. That’s odd, for the actor’s commitment to crude sluggishness is what made Bad Santa such a success. Bad News Bears clearly means to capitalize on that raunchy comedy, albeit in a PG-13 way, but Thornton and director Richard Linklater (School of Rock) lack a comedic killer instinct. They don’t just phone in Bad News Bears. This is a voice mail message.
