Home Team (1999)
Henry Butler is a professional athlete with a little Pete Rose in him. His athletic interests go beyond the playing field and into the gambling dens. Convicted for his addiction, the soccer player is assigned to community service at a children's home as a condition of his parole. The home attempts to exploit his soccer skills by forming a team. Butler takes no interest, though, until the home burns down and the team begins playing for their homes instead of personal pride or a payoff.
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I can't believe I'm wasting my time with a comment - but this movie is weirdly bad. If 20 different directors were brought in to film different parts of the movie without having any idea of the storyline being filmed by the other directors, this is pretty much the result I would expect.I also think some of the scenes were spliced out of order - things don't always seem to progress in order. The movie acts like we're already supposed to know about half the characters.And Steve Guttenberg tries to do manic, a-la-Robin Williams comedy in this movie. Ewww. And the whole premise of putting an ex-con in charge of a bunch of kids just doesn't seem realistic in this day and age.
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.
Classic Guttenberg... over the years, Steve has dazzled us time and time again. In this 1999, tear-jerking saga of a compulsive gambler turned lovable peewee boys soccer coach, he proves that it's not only knee-slapping Police Academyesque antics, but Oscar worthy screen composure that captures the respect and hearts of audiences worldwide.