The Comebacks (2007)

Simply A Masterpiece

One of my all time favorites.

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

It got many merits. On the top of them is the writing. They did so many funny details to an extent tells you that they took so much time of hard working. Choosing the formula of underachievers-go-achievers is yes corny, but at least it was well served with droll characters, clear story lines and fair endings. And it's a rare time for a comedy to parody while keeping a "story" going on vivaciously as well, since most – let's be realistic and say all – the parodies lately got no story, or laughs either ! I loved many ironies, many situations, and some lines. Generally the performances were as good as the written material. And the directing managed to make catchy image and breathless pace. It's wonderful how this movie achieves its goods together as a comedy, parody, and – somehow – a movie about underachievers.The shortcomings aren't a lot. Their most dangerous one is – ironically – the lead actor (David Koechner). That guy can be fun and bearable for a supporting roles, such as the one he did nicely in (Anchorman The Legend of Ron Burgundy – 2004). But he can't be watched for more time, as for a whole movie ! He's not that charismatic I guess, and sometime he's too annoying for his own good. (Brooke Nevin), as his daughter, was absolute silly, and no sexy, being a classic example for miscasting. The matter of the lead being a fugitive wasn't solved or utilized till the very end, most probably it was forgotten. And the rude sexual humor was just too much in a boring unfunny way; as if comedy is about nothing but sex. The gay remarks, the double meaning lines, and the members' jokes were endless, going on and on loosely, untidily, and crowdedly.It's watchable, enjoyable, and a bit gross. It succeeds on some levels, having a large amount of laughs. Definitely it has a sense of smartness; which's something happens accidentally nowadays. To understand why connect between the next : most of the disastrous parodies lately weren't screened for critics; so, if the producers saw it coming; how they green-lighted it in the first place ?! And knowing that (The Comebacks) wasn't too, then you must admit that those producers are the main reason of idiocy in today's Hollywood !

Recap: Coach Fields is the worst coach in history, having lost in all sports imaginable. Now, through a friend, he gets a final opportunity with a small college football team, The Comebacks. A truly miserable team, can they come around with their new miserable coach? Comments: A movie spoofing as many sport movies and sports or sport related events as it possibly can. So, many, if not all, jokes are cheap and sometimes embarrassingly low. But that doesn't mean that they aren't funny. Or that it should be looked down upon by default. To write a good parody is actually quite difficult and often needs the story to balance on a thin edge.The Comebacks is by far not the best parody movie, but is was surprisingly good, and in my opinion much better than the current rating of 3.6. Sure, the movie fell of that thin ledge at times, mostly to too low and cheap jokes or points just made on sex. But mostly it was just wacky, crazy jokes on other movies. To fully appreciate that you need to have seen most of that movies, you need an open mind and the right mind set. It is silly, but silly doesn't need to mean bad if you haven't decided that it is beforehand.I enjoyed it. Sure, I'm sick home from work and quite bored, but for those times movies like The Comebacks are perfect. It is not for a date or maybe even not for an evening with friends. This is a movie when you tired and need to kill some time. That it does splendidly.6/10

It is hard to really rate movies like this. It is obviously not going to be anything classic. It is probably going to be pretty much forgettable. So what if any redeeming qualities might this have? Why waste your time? Well all I can say is that, it is what it is! There are many amusing moments, there are a couple funny moments. It is a mildly amusing comedy that hits the obvious laughs. And in that it is a decent movie. It makes fun of every sports movie it can think of, and most of the jokes are average at best. But on a few occasions there are some very funny prop comedy moments.The actors all do a reasonable job with what they have to work with. The obvious jokes don't ask them to be exceptional. It just asked them to deliver the lines and try not to laugh at how ridiculous the lines are. And they all do a good job of being ridiculous, right in step with the movie.It is a fun movie that does not take itself serious at all. No it is not "Airplane" or "Dumb&Dumber" type of classic flick. But if you compare it to something like "Not another teen movie" or any of the newer super-spoofs it holds its own. It is certainly better than "Meet the Spartans" or "Epic Movie" spoofs.I thought Brooke Nevin was fun to watch. She is beautiful to start with, but beyond that she is very good. She delivers with a subtle but memorable performance. I'd like to see her more in the future I think she has a quality that comes through on screen. The rest of the cast is solid, and Mr. Lawrence is pretty good. He's a much better actor than his older brother if that is really saying much. And the always fetching Melora Hardin does her thing as she always does, this time as Coach Fields' wife. She is such an underrated talent.The movies is filled with cameos from recognizable faces from both sports and movies. Just about every cameo can be traced back to someone with a much bigger resume than the role. It's fun stuff.All in all, if you are looking for intelligent entertainment you won't enjoy this. But if you are willing to leave your mind at the door and just enjoy the stupidity, the movies has a lot of fun stuff going on to keep you interested for 90 minutes or so.

With so many horrible spoof movies, this is sadly a breath of fresh air to the genre. Compared to classics like Airplane or the Naked Gun, this is awful, but compared to recent spoof movies like Meet the Spartans and Disaster Movie, this is very clever and original. Don't get me wrong, though, this was not a good movie in any way. I laughed a few times, and there are a few inspired gags, but any pop culture reference falls flat on it's face, as does most jokes in the movie.Lambeau Fields (David Koechner) was a bad coach in the past, but now he's brought back to teach college football, and this time he'll do a good job. His wife (Melora Hardin) is feeling distant from him and his daughter is dating a football big shot to spite her father. Spoofs of various recent movies come into play, as do a lot of sight gags and nonstop stupidity.The best parts of the movie are the gags not relying on reference to recent movies. Spoofs of Radio, Rocky, Dodgeball, Friday Night Lights, Invincible and many other sports movies are not funny in the least. It's mainly the smaller gags that get a few laughs, like a bizarre crotch scratching scene, or a chewing tobacco spitting joke. These little throwaway giggles cannot carry the movie, and by the end, it's hard to watch. The last 20 minutes are grueling to sit through.The characters are surprisingly developed for a sports spoof movie, however, I'm sure the characters were built on clichés from the genre. Nonetheless, they're not too bad. David Koechner can pull lead actor in a movie off. Too bad they gave him so much crummy material to work with. Matthew Lawerence has fine comedic timing in a not always so comedic role as a ballet dancing football player with a cross dressing father. Carl Weathers rounds off the cast, once again playing in a sub-par sports movie (Not the Rocky movies...Happy Gilmore!) Overall, this is a goofy comedy. At times, it's funny, but more often than not, it's just very annoying and predictable.My rating: * 1/2 out of ****. 90 mins. PG-13 for language, sexual humor and drug humor.