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Movies / On DVD / The Comebacks
The Comebacks

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The Comebacks (2007)

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Reviews Counted:32

Fresh:3

Rotten:29

Average Rating:2.8/10

Consensus: Full of groin-centric humor and tired sports clichés, The Comebacks is poor even by parody movie standards.

Runtime: 1 hr 47 mins

Genre: Comedies

Synopsis: A satire in the vein of EPIC MOVIE and DATE MOVIE, THE COMEBACKS, directed by Tom Brady (THE HOT CHICK), tackles the conventions of the inspirational sports movie with jock-like gusto. Led by... A satire in the vein of EPIC MOVIE and DATE MOVIE, THE COMEBACKS, directed by Tom Brady (THE HOT CHICK), tackles the conventions of the inspirational sports movie with jock-like gusto. Led by washed-up coach Lambeau Fields (David Koechner), the losers of the title attempt to become a winning football team, while referencing a dizzying array of athletic-oriented films from Hollywood history, ranging from ROCKY to RADIO--the latter shamelessly parodied by a hapless, mentally challenged character named iPod (Jermaine Williams). Gleefully goofy in its send-ups of sports movies, THE COMEBACKS revels in broad slapstick humor that perfectly suits Koechner, who is perhaps best known as the obnoxious Todd Packer on the TV series THE OFFICE. (Koechner's fellow OFFICE mate Melora Hardin is also present, though the show's downbeat, quirky humor is notably M.I.A.) Other actors in the mostly unknown cast include real-life former football star Carl Weathers (the ROCKY films and, of course, ACTION JACKSON) and Matthew Lawrence, the brother of Joey Lawrence, who plays a quarterback with distinctly non-macho tendencies. Boasting comedic moments as subtle as the school bus that plows into a character during one scene, THE COMEBACKS doesn't pretend to be sophisticated--it happily indulges in its lowbrow status, making for an enjoyably guilty pleasure. [More]

Starring: David Koechner, Carl Weathers, Matthew Lawrence, Melora Hardin

Starring: David Koechner, Carl Weathers, Matthew Lawrence, Melora Hardin, Stacy Keibler

Director: Tom Brady

Director: Tom Brady
Screenwriter: Ed Yeager, Joey Gutierrez
Story: John Aboud, Michael Colton, Adam Jay Epstein, Andrew Jacobson
Producer: Peter Abrams, Andrew Panay, Robert L. Levy
Composer: Christopher Lennertz
Studio: Fox Atomic

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Reviews for The Comebacks

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
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Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | comment Comment
05/13/09
Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
04/23/09
Tom Meek
Tom Meek
Boston Phoenix
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
10/18/08
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

...has been infused with an increasingly desperate sensibility that's reflected in the film's almost total lack of genuine laughs...

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
06/18/08
David Nusair
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
04/03/08
Boxoffice Magazine

for those who would rather step on a tack than sit through another Miracle, this film is a long overdue revival to the spoof genre.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
02/16/08
Blake French
Blake French
Filmcritic.com

Someone should tell these guys you can't score a touchdown throwing lateral passes.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment 1 Comment
12/03/07
J. R. Jones
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader

Saying the makers of this film did a half ass job is giving them half of an ass more credit than they deserve.

Full Review Source: Three Movie Buffs | comment Comment
11/03/07
Scott Nash
Scott Nash
Three Movie Buffs

Throwing one sex joke after another does not a funny movie make.Just look at "The Comebacks," which is supposed to be a spoof of inspirational sports movies but instead is a parade of mostly lame sexual humor.

Full Review Source: Quad City Times (Davenport, IA) | comment Comment
11/01/07
Linda Cook
Linda Cook
Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)

[A] pretty much wit-free utterly uninspired takedown of the spunky-underdogs-beat-the-odds genre.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
10/26/07
Jim Slotek
Jim Slotek
Jam! Movies

The fact that The Comebacks makes fun of another sports parody, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, doesn’t make it a good movie, but it does say something about the pilfering, postmodern, post-ironic age of cinema we live in.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment 1 Comment
10/26/07
Josh Rosenblatt
Josh Rosenblatt
Austin Chronicle

...desperately unfunny...

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
10/26/07
Jim Lane
Jim Lane
Sacramento News & Review

The Comebacks is probably the worst movie that's sludged across my professional eyeballs -- worse than Daddy Day Camp, Baby Geniuses 2, and BloodRayne.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
10/24/07
Gregory Kirschling
Gregory Kirschling
Entertainment Weekly

Crude sports spoof too dumbed-down to be funny.

Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | comment Comment
10/24/07
Sandie Angulo Chen
Sandie Angulo Chen
Common Sense Media

I wouldn't be surprised if the football player Tom Brady is actually a better filmmaker than the filmmaker Tom Brady.

Full Review Source: EricDSnider.com | comment Comment
10/23/07
Eric D. Snider
Eric D. Snider
EricDSnider.com

May not change your life, but it will be funny.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment 3 Comments
10/23/07
Stina Chyn
Stina Chyn
Film Threat

There is no I in "team," but there are three in "idiotic." And idiotic more or less describes the appeal of The Comebacks, a so-stupid-it's-funny spoof of inspirational sports dramas.

Full Review Source: Detroit Free Press | comment Comment
10/22/07
John Monaghan
John Monaghan
Detroit Free Press

Sports fans (including those with old head injuries) are likely to cheer. The rest of us may just go for the long pass.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
10/22/07
Bruce Demara
Bruce Demara
Toronto Star

The dialogue in The Comebacks is bereft of lines that trigger even a snicker.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
10/22/07
Jennie Punter
Jennie Punter
Globe and Mail

A resoundingly unfunny sports-movie spoof that should have gone straight to DVD.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
10/22/07
Ethan Alter
Ethan Alter
Film Journal International
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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