Home Team, directed by Charles and Daniel Kinnane, stars Jackie Sandler, Taylor Lautner, Kevin James and others in the various lead and supporting roles. With a running time of 87 minutes, the film narrates the true-life story of Sean Payton, the NFL head coach of New Orleans Saint and how after a scandal he reconnected with his son. The synopsis of the film on Netflix reads, “Suspended NFL coach Sean Payton hopes to reconnect with his son by coaching his hapless youth football team in this family comedy based on a true story.” The audio of the film is in English.
– Home Team review does not contain spoilers –
The New Orleans Saints achieved their first and only Super Bowl Victory under the new head coach Sean Payton in the year 2009. However, things turned pretty sour for the saints when in an investigation that ended in 2011, it was revealed that the Saints were involved in a Bountygate scandal. The coaches had paid extra money to the defensive players for inflicting bodily harm on the opposition. This led to the suspension of Sean Payton. He finds himself back in his hometown of Texas where he tries to reconnect with his son, Connor, over football.
Home Team feels like a desperate attempt at sugar coating and covering up a scandal that shook NFL’s to the core. The film feels ethically wrong at certain times. With a subject that is not only a disgrace to the very spirit of sports, but Home Team also does not do justice to the seriousness of the heinous crime that was committed. It feels a lot like hypocrisy–undermining the very essence of sportsmanship at one moment and then using it to bridge gaps between personal relationships that turned sour due to one’s own faults. It is not as feel-good a movie as it aims to be.
Home Team takes the classic plot of turning underdogs into champions and then attempts to use quite a serious event to provide a humorous touch to it. There is nothing novel or exciting about the film, apart from a Jacuzzi that bubbles up in the middle of the night and transmits voices from other rooms. All the other roles in the film including Payton’s ex-wife, her new husband, Connor’s coach are nothing but stereotypes that have been manipulated for humour. The script fails to utilize the acting skills and abilities of the cast and becomes a bit too predictable at times.
The film offers no depth of character. There are no mentions of the scandal and its implication on the team. There is no repentance. There are no apologies. Sean Payton is an imprudent coach as well as an imprudent father. The film tries to latch into a sunny and happy-go-lucky vibe that is meant to be refreshing but fails. Sean Payton’s relationship with his son, which could have been a wonderful topic to dive deeper into, is almost left untouched. The film does not portray the fact that certain decisions have consequences that an easy “sorry” cannot fix.
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Summing up, Home Team
Home Team is not an inspirational film, though it tries its level best to be. There is no inspiration in covering up a huge scandal. There is no inspiration in deserting your toddler son and then never turning back. However, if one ignores all of the problematic elements at the core of the film, it serves as a classic underdog-to-champions story. If you have some minutes to spare, you can give this film a shot, albeit with zero expectations.
Home Team is now streaming on Netflix.
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Unfortunately this reviewer/author has absolutely No Clue about reviewing entertainment content.. The saddest part is that this ‘reviewer’ portrayed Home Team being about Sean Payton’s professional life and it is an effort to clear an issue.. but definitely it is not, viewers don’t see it that way..
You got to really ‘take time’ to put your mind and heart while reviewing any content for it’s original intention.. If you haven’t seen anything other than what you wrote.. Probably it is the right time to invest your valuable time productively somewhere else.. Thank you..
HORRIBLE AND BORING, ME SMASCHED MY HEAD IN THE WAll WAS FUNNIER THAN THIS, dont eat dinner before watching this i mean the second last game before the final one oh god in heaven and hell ????????????????????????????????????????, and that WAY TOO COOKY COACH ON THE OTHER TEAM WAS TO HAPPY ALL THE WAY TOO THE END, (the one on the red team, dont like him or the way being an absolute ASS….LE) , worst soccer ending ever, i dont really like soccer or any other sport so im begging netflix no more sports movies, and delet this movie from netflix this instant, ANYWAY: IL GIVE IT A WERY WEAK ONE STAR SCORE (techincal a ZZZZERRROOOOO, kevin james the guy from king of qeen is good as always, but the script for this movie should be burned and buried in sahara land.