Home Team (1999)

This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

So much average

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Mr. Butler is a former pro soccer player whose partying ways landed him in trouble with the law. He must serve as a handyman at a dilapidated boys' home during his probation, and if gets fired or quits he goes to prison.The boys who live at the home don't like Mr. Butler at first, but that changes eventually. Mr. Butler tries really hard to do a good job. Unfortunately, the house is falling apart and needs a lot of work.Cookie is the nutty cook who loves to gamble on horses. Mr. Butler, despite having bet on soccer (one of the reasons for his legal troubles), gives him betting advice.Karen, who runs the place, wants the boys to do something meaningful so she persuades them to start a soccer team. They do, reluctantly, and the team gets called Home Team. Home Team is terrible, and so far no one realizes exactly why Mr. Butler was a celebrity. He doesn't seem interested in coaching. At first. But when he gets his hands on a soccer ball ...There are obstacles to overcome. That first team the Home Team played will play them again--doesn't this always happen in these movies? But will Home Team win this time?Steve Guttenberg's antics didn't work for me at first--or for the boys--but they grew on me later.When Mr. Butler asks Karen about her accent, she claims to be from France. I didn't notice an accent, and half the time I don't think there was one. Sophie Lorain, of course, is from Quebec.The actors playing the kids re good enough. I don't recall anyone standing out.It's pretty standard material for this type movie. Occasionally the boys talk about the bad experiences in their lives, which raises the quality somewhat.Michel Perron looks and talks like Eric Stonestreet of "Modern Family", but it's not him. I was going to say Stonestreet really showed range as an actor.The one standout performer is Carl Alacchi as the funeral director. He eventually agrees to sponsor Home Team. He is really quirky.This is an okay movie. It is formula, of course, and not a particularly good example.

Some SPOILERS...Guttenberg produces as oscar worthy performence in this modern sports classic. Forget Memento, forget Usual suspects don't even contemplate the 6th sense Home team has probably the most shocking twis in a movie home team beat the bad guys...Guttenberg's complex satirie shining through has he wins the hearts and minds of his team...the rags to riches storyline as a team of no-hopers obatian the skills of the Brazilian nation team purely by running round traffic cones, however this doesn't distract you from the more complex disturbing sub-plots. Why this film had been discarded in a skip on the outskirts of Wolverhampton is beyond me...

I just saw this movie on TV. It seemed like a movie that kids would like. Steve Guttenberg plays this goofy guy who comes to an orphanage for abused/neglected boys, as the handyman. He tries too hard to be amusing, and the kids find him annoying and irritating, which he is. He turns out to be a good soccer coach for them. While it is a movie for kids, there are some scenes that should not have been included, namely a scene in a funeral home, that is not funny or neccessary, but instead is creepy and disturbing. Sometimes, or often, I wonder where the brains are of the writer/ director/ producer, and which one of them is responsible for the poor taste in many otherwise okay films. Steve Guttenberg is really a good actor, and he is fun to watch in this role as a jerk who is trying too hard. The kids in the movie seem real.

Other then having already seen the exact same story in the past in a movie called "The Mighty Ducks", this was an OK movie.This time, the action is on a soccer field, not a hockey rink. But it is pretty much the same. A loser with a hidden past takes on some misfit kids in a soccer team that never wins. He turns out to be a former pro player who lost it all during a gambling scandal.While it is nice to see Steve acting again, his character is almost the same as in any of his other movies. And the fact that the plot is so obvious does not make this a very enjoyable movie.Unless you are a Guttenberg fan, go ahead and skip this movie. I hope that Steve can get back to some real roles, like he had in Splash or Short Circut.