Home Team fails to score big.

Two years after NFL head coach Sean Payton is suspended, he goes back to his hometown and finds himself reconnecting with his 12-year-old son by coaching his Pop Warner football team.

You know those movies where after you watch them you feel absolutely nothing? That’s how I feel about Home Team, granted it’s not one of the absolute worst of Happy Madison Productions. However the real story behind Sean Payton and Bountygate is far more interesting than this movie, the movie focuses on Payton coaching his 12 year son’s football team after getting suspended from the NFL. So I feel this is a complete missed opportunity, what follows is terrible humor, terrible acting from pretty much everyone besides Kevin James who seems to just enjoy doing these roles at this point and surprisingly Taylor Lautner. I’m not saying he gave anything special at all but when you compare him to everyone else you notice a difference. There’s this one scene where they actually have CGI vomit which is definitely a choice. The movie’s main issue is the tone being for inconsistent, it wants to tell a sports drama type of story but immediately cracks so many unfunny jokes. There are a few heartfelt moments that actually work quite well, but a lot of the time your restricted to very unfunny jokes with terrible dialogue. Home Team is overall just a terrible sports comedy that really adds nothing new.

Home Team is available on Netflix

3/10 D-

Bruised is unfortunately not a knockout.

Jackie Justice, a disgraced MMA fighter who has failed at the one thing she’s ever been good at – fighting. When 6-year-old Manny, the son she walked out on years ago, returns to her doorstep, Jackie has to conquer her own demons.

Bruised is a film that I really wanted to like badly, because there is a lot to like about Bruised. Such as the action scenes especially the fight during the climax, they are captured in such a raw and powerful style where it actually feels like you are there in person watching the fight. Halle Berry also gives a fantastic performance, her performance is filled to the brim with emotions and strength which makes the performance all the more interesting and investing. The problems however stick out like a sore thumb, the film is unfortunately very formulaic if you have seen other wrestling films like Southpaw in the past you will have a pretty good idea of what’s going to end up happening in Bruised. I do want to say being formulaic isn’t always a terrible thing, it’s just a matter of doing something interesting and making sure the positives outweigh the negatives. Bruised however is not so lucky as there’s also the running time which feels much too long. There’s a lot that could have been cut or shortened to give the movie more of a focus, the writing is very stuffed it feels like the writers wanted to go with something meaningful at times and at other times it feels like they wanted to do something traditional with not much substance. The strongest moments are definitely during the last portion of the movie as it does have some admittedly powerful scenes that wrap up the movie nicely. Overall Bruised is very surface level, it has a great performance from Halle Berry but that isn’t enough to save Bruised from being very forgettable and disappointing.

Bruised is available on Netflix!

4/10 D+

King Richard is an inspiring film about making your vision a reality!

Armed with a clear vision and a brazen, 78-page plan, Richard Williams is determined to write his two daughters, Venus and Serena, into history. Training on tennis courts in Compton, Calif., Richard shapes the girls’ unyielding commitment and keen intuition. Together, the Williams family defies seemingly insurmountable odds and the prevailing expectations laid before them.

King Richard is a biopic of Serena Williams and Venus Williams father Richard Williams, it shows how determined Richard was to make his vision a reality wanting Serena and Venus to succeed. Will Smith does a fantastic job as Richard Williams, he captures his soul and his mannerisms as well. It’s easily the best performance Will Smith has done in quite awhile it really brings the type of performance that I and so many other people have wanted to see from in quite some time. Will Smith not only captures Richard’s mannerisms but he also captures how much Richard wanted his vision to come true, how much he really wanted to reach that goal. The rest of the cast were quite fantastic Jon Bernthal, Demi Singleton, Saniyya Sidney and Aunjanue Ellis all do a really strong job in their roles! The writing is much better than expected, there are some incredibly powerful moments (such as the kitchen scene) that really drag you into the mind of Richard Williams. It makes you understand how much it means to him, which makes the build up for the end all the more powerful. Overall King Richard can feel like a formulaic biopic at times however those moments aren’t enough to stop it from being a really interesting film that goes beyond from being just a biopic film. It’s a film that showcases how someone was determined to make their vision a reality and would never give up until it did come true!!

King Richard is in theaters and on HBO Max!

8/10 B+

Safety (2020)

The story of Ray-Ray McElrathbey, a freshman football player for Clemson University, who secretly raised his younger brother on campus after his home life became too unsteady.

Safety is another one of those inspirational stories that really don’t have anything new to bring to the table, the true story itself is very inspiring and I definitely recommend looking up the actual story. The movie however at times feels like a huge chore to sit through it’s 122 minutes long which it honestly did not need to be. Jay Reeves and the rest of the cast do a fine enough job given that the script they got was nothing really too special. A lot of the film just felt way too safe (no pun intended) it was your basic inspirational movie cliches that any viewer can easily recognize. There are some genuine heartfelt moments that do work pretty well, but those take a lot of patience to get to, with that said the movie definitely isn’t bad. It’s just a movie that I don’t think I’ll ever watch again, it’s one of those Disney+ movies that could have easily been a Disney channel original but they decided to put it on Disney+. If it sounds like your type of movie check it out, otherwise don’t rush to watch it.

6/10 C+