Home Team review: Kevin James’ comedy fails to make use of coach Sean Payton’s NFL suspension story

2.5/5

Story: Sean Payton, coach of the New Orleans Saints, is suspended from the NFL, following a scandal that the media calls “Bountygate”. He returns to his home, where he tries to reconnect with his estranged 12-year-old son and ends up coaching his football team.

Review: When you get the rights to the story of the life and game of a Super Bowl-winning coach who gets suspended, following a scandal, and returns to train his 12-year-old son’s football team, and wins back his love, your first option is not to go and make a family comedy out of it. But Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison Productions went that way, and the movie, starring Kevin James, fails to impress. 

With the scope of being able to make an engaging and engrossing movie about human emotions in sport, a sporting scandal, family and search for redemption, the movie directed by Charles and Daniel Kinnane fumbles the ball, pun intended. The movie has no heart and misses out on substance, but has a few laughs in a story that looks very similar and common, even with it being about Sean Payton. Take out Sean Payton from the story, and this becomes just another comedy movie. 

The first card which confirms the movie is based on a true story and a few photographs of Sean Peyton towards the end credits of the movie are the only thing reminding the viewer that this is based on a true story. As you watch the movie, much of it turns into fiction, and the casting and the choice of comedy used in the movie are to be blamed for this. Apart from James, Taylor Lautner, Rob Schneider and Jackie Sandler, all play important roles in the movie, and one might just expect a cameo from Adam Sandler. 

Failing to make any changes to the conventional underdog story, and let down by comedy that is between mildly funny and not funny, the movie misses the field goal by a long shot. Talking about some positives, the performances by the kids who are part of the football team are okay and give you something, though very little, to cling on. But at the end of the day, one can only imagine what a great movie could have been made with the story of Sean Payton, with some better choices of the cast and a different genre. 

Verdict: Home Team is a mildly entertaining story that misses out on the heart and most importantly, a story that could be told better with a different genre. But if you are looking for a sports movie to pass time, Home Team can keep you occupied through its runtime.