The Comebacks

Sports spoof fumbles, fouls, strikes out and deserves a penalty

By Geoff Berkshire

October 19, 2007

Critic's Rating:
0 1/2

The Comebacks
Brooke Nevin in "The Comebacks" (Credit: Fox Atomic)
Photos:
A scene from the film "The Comebacks." Teaser Poster A scene from the film "The Comebacks." A scene from the film "The Comebacks."
The Comebacks
Running time:
88 minutes
Rated:
PG-13
Cast:
David Koechner -
Coach Lambeau Fields
Carl Weathers -
Coach Freddie Wiseman
Melora Hardin -
Mrs. Fields
Matthew Lawrence -
Lance Truman
Brooke Nevin -
See full cast
Director:
Tom Brady
Genre:
Comedy
Movie Trailer:
View Trailer
Overall User Rating:
3 (6 ratings)
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Coach Fields (David Koechner) tries to lead a losing football team to victory while one of the players (Matthew Lawrence) romances the coach's daughter (Brooke Nevin), in this sports movie send-up.

Big question: Is this any better than the recent string of laugh-free parodies (think: "Epic Movie," "Date Movie" and any number of "Scary Movies")?

Skip it: Like most "parodies" this movie simply reenacts or references bits from other films—including "Blue Crush," "Field of Dreams," "Miracle," "Remember the Titans" and "Stick It"—without actually adding anything more to the "spoofs." Sports movies are full of clichés ripe for smart satire, but "The Comebacks" settles for generic homophobic and ethnic humor—there's a Latino player who shows what he thinks of the coach's "contract" by turning it into a taco and eating it. Koechner has good comic timing but he's much better served by scene-stealing supporting roles in A-level projects ("Anchorman," "The Office") than a star turn in a Z-grade effort like this.

Catch it: If you can't resist a movie where the climactic big game is called the "Toilet Bowl."

Bottom line: It's just embarrassing that this made it into theaters.

Bonus: The movie ends with the threat of a sequel, which is easily the funniest thing about it.

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