Home Run

A substance abuse recovery and Christian-redemption film, Home Run is a yawn of a parable, barely made into a movie. Baseball hotshot Corey Brand is forced to spend his suspension for a DUI coaching a loveable team of misfit kids back in his sleepy hometown. Produced in partnership with both the National Fatherhood Institute and the National Centre for Fathering, it probably shouldn't be a spoiler that the illegitimate son Brand left behind as a baby is also on the team. If only some moralistic preaching about what it takes to be a dad was the film's sole problem. A massive amount of looped dialogue, flatly delivered using words no human would ever string together, makes the movie appear crafted by machines not entirely sure how human interaction works. Home Run wants to hit one out of the park, but it can't get over its own uncanny valley. —Jacob Boon