Home Team review by Bobby Blakey
I am a fan of Kevin James and have been digging some of his stuff recently including his dark villainous turn in the awesome flick Becky. Now he is diving back into an all-new comedy drama with his latest Home Team with him taking on the role of real life NFL coach Sean Payton. The film co-stars Taylor Lautner, Jackie Sandler, Rob Schneider, Gary Valentine, Lavell Crawford, Jacob Perez, Tait Blum, Bryant Tardy, Manny Magnus and Isaiah Mustafa. Could this film hit the end zone on this true story or will it fumble before crossing the line?
Home Team follows NFL Head Coach Sean Payton who is suspended two years after a Super Bowl win and goes back to his hometown and finds himself reconnecting with his 12 year old son by coaching his Pop Warner football team.
Going into this film I thought it was just another fun comedy and while it is that, I didn’t pay attention that it was actually based on the true story of Sean Payton’s off year after being suspended. What I dug about this is that instead of just a straight up drama dealing with the usual tropes of this scenario, they opted to keep it light and more comedic while telling a story with heart. Sure there are some clichéd elements, but it works as what it is and I really enjoyed it.
James is great in the role and brings a more straight laced tone and performance to the role which is important to who is playing. This allowed them to surround him with a fun cast of characters to bring some laughs along with the heart felt aspect. There are all the familiar faces that fans of Happy Madison flicks have come to love with James real life brother Gary Valentine who is as hilarious as always throughout. All the kids are a blast to watch and look to be having a great time. It was awesome to see Jacob Perez who last
starred alongside Liam Neeson in The Marksman get to stretch his comedic muscles as well.
There are a lot of by the numbers elements to this story that we have all seen time and again, but it still made for an entertaining time. It’s not only just interesting in general knowing this was based on Payton’s true story during this year, but also just a fun time. Check out Home Team streaming now on Netflix.