By Austin Morton, Senior Reporter
What happens when you mix an Adam Sandler production with the true story of former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton?
You get “Home Team.”
Kevin James plays Sean Payton in this Netflix retelling of the events during the “Bountygate” controversy.
Bountygate began during the Saints Superbowl win in 2009 and continued until 2011.
The controversy involved Saints players being paid bonuses for injuring opposing team players. Once the NFL commissioner was aware of the situation, he suspended Payton from coaching for a year.
During that year, Payton would begin coaching his son’s sixth grade football team in Argyle, Texas.
“Home Team” focuses more on this father-son relationship, rather than getting involved with the controversy itself, to mixed results of success.
Payton wants to use this year to get closer to his son, Connor. Being a head coach in the NFL, he has not been able to spend much time watching him grow up.
Payton decides that the best way to get closer to him is by coaching Connor’s underperforming football team.
“Home Team” plays similar to most underdog sports films.
The team initially is not very good, getting beat by 40 points in every game.
When this happens, the school shuts off the power to the scoreboard to save money. Once Payton begins to bring his NFL coaching to the team, however, the players get their first win.
What follows is a mix of montages and Adam Sandler-style jokes, including the team winning an important game by vomiting on the opposing team to get the final score.
Somewhere in the middle is a fairly well-told story of a son being forced to live in his father’s football shadow and how he tries his best to be recognized by his father, even if the love is not reciprocated.
However, it gets lost in all of the jokes and football talk. If you enjoy Adam Sandler movies, the baggage they bring and are interested in football history, then “Home Field” could be for you.
But if even one of those sounds like a turn-off, I would recommend something else. You might get more enjoyment watching the Superbowl commercials in a few weeks.