Home Team

Happy Madison released a new Netflix film with Kevin James, HOME TEAM. On paper the idea of approaching the true story of the Saints scandal with their stupid brand of humour sounds like a disaster but it was not as bad as I thought, I actually had fun with it.

You do have Rob Schneider in a completely useless, unfunny and over-the-top character as usual, but they kept it down to earth compared to their other films, and the biggest surprise to me is that I actually laughed a few times, the kids had good chemistry together.

There's one gross-out scene that was also pointless and was typical bad Adam Sandler humor. Honestly it's the kind of film that Dads will watch with their sons during this NFL playoffs season and most likely will have a good time bonding over football.

First being a Happy Madison production you pretty much know what to expect. Silly over substance. But here you have some sliver of real life in that it "kicks-off" from an actual event in which New Orleans Saints coach Payton was suspended for a year from his NFL job. Weaving a story of hardship into a connection with his son brings our coach back to coaching on an entirely different level. Since one doesn't expect a warts and all soul searching documentary this is made into pure entertainment. With modest expectations it succeeds and is fun to watch. It's slight in a good way so I'd say if you want a feel good family flick with a few laughs this qualifies.

I watched Apocalypse Now for the first time and it sort of messed me up so I needed a light watch to follow. Enter "Home Team."

My expectations were low coming into this film. Was it a cinematic masterpiece? No. Did I still have a good time? Yes. Was it a PR stunt for Sean Payton and the Saints? Probably. Did I care? No.

The 1990s brought us a bunch of fun sports movies for kids like "The Sandlot," "The Mighty Ducks," "Rookie of the Year," and "Angels in the Outfield." This movie shares some of that DNA. While it doesn't reach the heights of the best of the kids sports movie genre, I had a good time watching this movie. If there's anyone that's itching for a feel-good, kid-friendly sports movies, "Home Team" will scratch that itch.

If You Like Kevin James, you will like this film. If you don't like Kevin, you may STILL like this film, which has the usual cliches, but also several scenes that really work (funny and moving).

Don't know how accurate the story is to fact, but it's engaging enough, despite a few odd ball dumb characters you would expect in a "Billy Madison" production (e.g. Adam Sandler's buddy Rob Schneider once again playing a way out in left field character who is just strange w/o being funny, whose character is married to Sean Peyton's (Kevin James) ex-wife (played by Adam Sandler's real life wife Jackie Sandler who was introduced to Adam by Rob Schneider...whew!).

Anyway, if you don't follow the NFL, the real Sean Peyton (again, played by Kevin James in this film) just retired from coaching the NFL's New Orleans Saints the day the film was released - No doubt planned timing for promoting this Netflix Original film.

Recommend viewing if you're looking for nice family safe comedy with positive messaging (adults can like this too - I did).

I thought this was a nice little movie. It was more of a light drama with some humour than a straight out comedy, and I enjoyed both aspects of it.

I really like Kevin James and as usual he was great in this. It's always nice to see Taylor Lautner as well. The child actors were all quite good too. Actually, the entire cast did a great job.

The plot was simple but still fun. The ending was absolutely fantastic and I feel like the build up to that moment was perfect.

Inevitably, this movie won't be loved by all, but it's a fun enough time with a positive message, and its PG rating means it is definitely something the whole family can enjoy.