Home Team (1998 film)
| Home Team | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Allan A. Goldstein |
| Written by |
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| Screenplay by | Jeff Lewis Pierce O'Donnell |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | Steve Guttenberg Sophie Lorain Ryan Slater |
| Edited by | Richard Comeau |
Release date |
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Running time | 91 minutes |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $4 million[1] |
Home Team is a 1998 comedy film starring Steve Guttenberg.
Plot summary
[edit]Mr. Butler is a former pro soccer player whose reputation for partying and gambling has caught up with him. He is sentenced to a year of probation, which includes working as a handyman in a dilapidated boys' home. Karen runs the home for a group of eleven boys whose parents could not raise them for some reason. Karen wants the boys to do something meaningful so she persuades them to start a soccer team known simply as "Home Team". They are terrible, but Mr. Butler, who has concealed his skills so far, is persuaded to coach the team, which eventually improves. A fire damages the home to the point that it must be torn down, and the boys will be separated, but efforts are made to keep the boys together. In a rematch, Home Team ends up defeating the first team they played on the way to a possible championship. The boys' cook Cookie, who likes to bet on horse races, made a bet with a Las Vegas bookie that Home Team would win; his winnings will be enough to get them a new house.
Cast
[edit]- Steve Guttenberg as Henry Butler
- Sophie Lorain as Karen
- Ryan Slater as Julian
- Michel Perron as Cookie
- Carl Alacchi as Larkin
- Johnny Morina as Alex
- Tyler Hynes as Chip
- David Deveau as Pineapple
- Frank Schorpion as Vince
- Richard Jutras as Semary
- Ashton Laine Jersey as Meghan
- Kathleen Fee as Social Service Woman
- Willy Lavendel as Charlie
- Chad Connell as Eric
- Anthony Etesonne-Bedard as Four Eyes
- Eric Lightbourne as Goodbye
- Brian Paul Imperial as Gregory
Production
[edit]Home Team was filmed in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.[2] 15-year old Ryan Slater in the film is also the half-brother of actor Christian Slater.[1]
Screenwriter (and attorney) Pierce O'Donnell, who wrote the script in 1994, filed suit against the Canadian producer group in 2000, regarding allegedly unfair accounting practices in the film's development costs.[3]
The French title of the movie is "Une combinaison gagnante" (A winning combination) and the German name is Home Team – Ein treffsicheres Team (An unerring team).
Reception
[edit]The Wallflower critical guide to contemporary North American directors (2000) notes that Home Team was "little known" at that time.[4] VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever (2004) writes that the movie has a "familiar plot but that's not necessarily bad."[5] The Radio Times Guide To Film (2007) opined that "Hollywood still hasn't got the hang of football (or soccer, as they insist on calling it) and this family-oriented frolic is decidedly minor league."[6]
Efilmcritic.com's 2001 review of the film was especially biting, calling it "an affront to film making".[7]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b (14 November 1998). Home Team a Mighty Ducks-like tale, Montreal Gazette, p. 53
- ^ Brownstein, Bill (November 14, 1998). "Shooting Stars". The Gazette (Newspapers.com).
- ^ Petrikin, Chris and Ben Berkowitz (31 October 2000). Heavy-Weight Industry Lawyer O'Donnell Sues Producer for Defrauding Struggling Screenwriter: Himself, Inside.com
- ^ Wallflower critical guide to contemporary North American directors, p. 178 (2000)
- ^ VideoHound's golden movie retriever, p. 386 (2004)
- ^ Radio Times guide to film 2007, p. 563
- ^ (16 December 2001). The EFC Review, Efilmcritic.com