Home Team Review: Kevin James' film brushes off Sean Payton's bountygate scandal for a light hearted tale

Home Team 

Home Team Cast: Kevin James, Taylor Lautner

Home Team Directors: Charles Kinnane, Daniel Kinnane

Streaming Platform: Netflix

Home Team Stars: 2.5/5

Charles Kinnane, Daniel Kinnane team up to direct Netflix's Home Team which is based on the true story of NFL head coach Sean Payton's suspension from the New Orleans Saints following the bountygate scandal. Although, if you thought you were going to learn something interesting about the scandal or Payton himself, you are beyond mistaken because Home Team offers no insight whatever into the seriosity and impact of 'bountygate' but instead packages itself into a family-friendly film that focuses on Payton's reunion with his son and his coaching stint for the 12-year-old's high-school team. 

For the unreversed, the bountygate scandal was an incident that involved members of the New Orleans Saints team of the National Football League (NFL) who were accused of paying out bonuses for injuring opposing team players. The scandal came to light in 2012 following which Head coach Sean Payton was suspended for the entire season. Mind you, Netflix's new film offers little to no insight into this well-known scandal but in fact fashions Kevin James as Payton, a father looking to reconnect with his son who later also happens to become the coach of the school's team. 

It's surprising why the makers never felt the need to use the resources provided by the streaming giant to produce a compelling drama that could take a deeper look at the scandal, perhaps give an update on how the investigation happened and its repercussions but instead, what they settle for is a making a cliche sports film about a bunch of underdogs who under Payton's coaching realise their true potential. In fact, giving Kevin James' character any other name would make this movie still the same predictable sports drama. 

Home Team follows Sean Payton (Kevin James) who after his suspension from the NFL for one year, due to his involvement in the Bountygate scandal, returns to his hometown and reconnects with his 12-year-old son by coaching his football team. Payton steps up to help his son's team's coach, Troy Lambert (Taylor Lautner) to help his team Warriors score some wins. During his stay in the hometown, we see Payton having encounters with other supporting characters such as his ex-wife (Jackie Sandler) and her new husband, Jamie (Rob Schneider). 

One of the biggest disappointments about Home Team is that the film rarely seems to take itself seriously. It tries hard to come across as a funny, light-hearted drama whilst keeping out all the noise surrounding the real Sean Payton who has been in the headlines, as fresh as two days ago for resigning from his NFL team New Orleans Saints. The supporting characters in the film, particularly the likes of the hotel clerk, Eric played by producer Adam Sandler's nephew Jared Sandler. There's also Schneider's Jamie whose zen-like, pacifist persona is tried to be presented as a comic bit that seems unnecessary. There are a lot of elements being played up just to bring the laughs but none of them land. Not to mention the plot is so thin that there's little to no background provided about the team or even Troy, the school's coach before Payton enters their life and changes everything. It's like they were waiting for him to show up and lead the way. 

While the football games between the kids' teams have been shot decently well, there's one entire sequence that could have been easily avoided, where the kids end up puking all across the field and it's absolutely disgusting to watch them continue to play amid the rain and the puke. Another major problem I have would be that if the makers wanted to merely focus on Payton and his son's relationship, it's a shame that they don't take any effort to translate that element of the father-son relationship in the film. There's merely a scene or two where James' character is seen having a conversation with his son and the rest all show him present as the coach but definitely not as the dad. 

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Home Team has been produced by Adam Sandler and if you had not checked it in the credits, you could still say the actor had to have a connection with the film given that all his usual collaborators and family members make it into the film.  While his wife Jackie and daughter Sunny and nephew Jared Sandler make it into the film in supporting roles, it's also the casting of his close friends, Kevin James and Rob Schneider in the lead that suggests the actor's involvement in the project. As for the performances, while Kevin James tries to do his best in what's offered to him, it's impossible to take his character of Payton as the same NFL coach who has been in the headlines. Among the rest of the cast Schneider tries hard to bring the laughs and remains fairly likeable. As for Taylor Lautner whom we are seeing after quite a while onscreen, the Twilight star seems wasted in a film that has very little to offer for his character. 

Home Team is a film that comes across like those usual sports genre films which tell an underdog story and focus on a saviour who comes to a small town to set things right. For those who have no knowledge or inclination towards NFL players, games or the history of bountygate, this is a family-friendly drama that needs little attention to realise where the story is headed. There's nothing new about Home Team and despite being a true story, it looks like something we may have watched a thousand times already.