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The Comebacks
Movie Stats & Links |
Starring: |
David Koechner, Carl Weathers,
Melora Hardin, Matthew Lawrence, Brooke Nevin |
MPAA Rated: |
PG-13 |
Released By: |
Fox Atomic |
Web Site: |
foxatomic.com/comebacks |
Kiddie Movie: |
Keep it to the
teens and older. |
Date Movie: |
Only if your date
thinks the trailer is kind of funny. |
Gratuitous Sex: |
It's PG-13 so
Brooke Nevin doesn't get naked, but we get lots of adult
innuendos, skimpy outfits, and a leg-humping iPod. |
Gratuitous
Violence: |
Over-the-top
football stuff. |
Action: |
This ain't no
action flick. |
Laughs: |
Quite a few. |
Memorable
Scene: |
Randy's big
chance. |
Memorable
Quote: |
Coach: "What do we
want him to do?"
Team: "Die sad!" |
Directed By: |
Tom Brady |
Produced By: |
Peter Abrams,
Andrew Panay, Robert L. Levy |
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The Comebacks
A Movie Review |
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Sometimes I think about trying to join one of the film
critic societies, like the Online Film Critics or even the
Chicago Film Critics Association, and then I come out of a
movie like "The Comebacks" and realize that if they
investigated me, read my review of this movie, and realized
I gave it the same rating as "Michael Clayton," well, my
credibility might be shot because I’m going to guess that
when the reviews come out, well, I don’t see "The Comebacks"
getting a lot of praise. So maybe I should start my own
society, and since I’ve already proclaimed myself King of
"The Land of the Easily Amused," maybe "The Film Society of
the Easily Amused" might not be such a stretch. If you can’t
guess from this opening paragraph so far, well, I liked "The
Comebacks."
Coach Lambeau Fields (I suppose we can assume his parents
were Green Bay Packer fans) pretty much sucks as a coach,
leaving mishaps in his wake of what should be historic
sports moments. For example, Coach Fields gets the blame for
causing Bill Buckner’s error during the 1986 World Series.
Kind of in retirement, his fellow coach, Freddie (Carl
Weathers), lets Lambeau know about an opening at Heartland
State University in Texas for a head football coach. He
takes the position after promising his wife, Barb (Melora
Hardin), that he wouldn’t let coaching get in the way of
paying attention to the family, and of course, he forgets
about his family.
So the good coach is at Heartland State, has a rag-tag
group of football players to meld, and no, this is not your
serious, sports, "based on a true story" kind of movie;
Nope, this film works to spoof tons of inspirational sports
movies, like "Field of Dreams," "Stick It," "Bend It Like
Beckham," "Radio," and "Rudy," but unlike say a "Scary
Movie" type of film, that really builds on parodies of
horror films, "The Comebacks" mostly just uses the sports
film as a quick joke and then gets back to the story at hand
– Coach Fields trying to once and for all not be such a
loser.
In the mix you get Lance (Matthew Lawrence) as the
quarterback who has a knack for fumbling a lot, Michelle
(Brooke Nevin) as the rebellious daughter of Coach Fields
who helps Lance get over his fumbling in a very creative
way, Trotter (Jackie Long) as the over-the-top, bling-wearing
receiver who has spreewells on his Segway yet a soft spot
for "My Little Pony" collectibles, rather than "Radio" we
get iPod (Jermaine Williams), and not to be left out is the
little runt of the team, Randy (Martin Spanjers), who has
one of the funniest moments in the movie, especially since
his name is very similar to one Rudy Ruettiger.
The thing I found a little odd about "The Comebacks" is
that it probably could have been left on its own as a comedy
without having to keep trying to make fun of other sports
movies, not that it wasn’t funny seeing Rocky Balboa
disintegrate into a puff of dust, but it wasn’t necessary
because the core story of the film was funny enough.
My easiest recommendation is for you to watch the trailer
for the film; it pretty much lets you know the jokes you
will get. I can probably guess that if you are an adult
still living in "The Land of the Easily Amused," you will
probably enjoy "The Comebacks" and as an adult may I
recommend you watch out for a few things: The school logo
for Heartland State (I almost wish I could buy one of their
t-shirts); The nickname for the gymnastics team spelled out
on their shirts; And pay close attention to the filmstrip
from the photo booth that Lambeau is holding in a moment of
sadness (I started laughing, the older couple behind me
finally saw what I saw, but the young teens who I think
snuck out of school to see the film didn’t seem to get it,
thankfully).
The movie gave me exactly what I expected, and then a
little more, and as much as Ali Larter made the
whipped-cream bikini famous in "Varsity Blues," Brooke
Nevin’s (as Michelle) method for helping a football player
get over the dropsies might become famous, but sadly won’t
be able to be used by any coaching staff. So, yea, I’m
going to give "The Comebacks" the same rating I gave
"Michael Clayton," 4 stars out of 5. You might only give it
1, but then you probably aren’t an adult living in my
kingdom, nor a 13 year old male.
That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!!
L8R!!! |