Proudly trumpeted on the box as being from the mind of the creator of the Left Behind series, Hometown Legend is 103 minutes of highschool football, interrupted only for some cheerleading and the obligatory love story, courtesy of Party of Fiver Lacey Chabert.

Think Varsity Blues without the edge. What's left? Well, tons of footage of football games intercut with scenes of football practice. Will the drifter with a heart of gold take the small-town school to the championship? Will the prissy cheerleader-type overcome her dislike/distrust for him so they can start a happy, God-fearing life together? Well, we wouldn't want to spoil things now, would we? (And to be honest, there is one twist: The team sucks pretty badly, so victory here becomes a matter of degree.)

If you're a huge amateur football fan, you might something here for you, but non-sports fanatics will find themselves stiflingly bored. Even a relatively saccharine movie like A Walk to Remember gave the teen drama a fresh spin. Hometown Legend has absolutely nothing we haven't seen before (except for most of its stars -- total unknowns). It's made well enough (shooting football games at night just doesn't seem that tough) and the acting is par, but the story is so plodding and derivative (The Bad News Bears leaps to mind) it's hard to muster much of a care either way.

DVD gives you a commentary track from director James Anderson and producer Dallas Jenkins, along with a lot of material about author Jerry B. Jenkins (more than 140 books to date!), who's apparently trying to amass an L. Ron Hubbard-class following. Is Jenkinsology next? Be afraid (or be left behind)!



Party of fourth and five yards.