Comebacks, The

Comebacks, The is rated PG-13: for crude and sexual content throughout and some drug material

There's nothing like a good sports movie to inspire audiences. Unfortunately, The Comebacks is nothing like a good sports film. Packed with crass humor, blatant rip offs and sexual innuendo from the first frame to the final credit, this parody of the sports genre is short on original humor and void of family themes.

At home as well as on the playing field, Coach Lambeau Fields (David Koechner) is a confirmed loser. Having tried his hand at coaching hockey, car racing and soccer, the habitual failure has given up team activities and taken employment at a stud farm (enough said). But when his former assistant (Carl Weathers) shows up at the stable with an offer to coach a college football team, the former athletic director decides to come out of retirement, despite his wife's (Melora Hardin) concern about the repercussions for their daughter (Brooke Nevin) who will have to move once again.

Located deep in Texas, Lambeau's new team, the Heartland State Comebacks, is the stereotypical mishmash of players including Trotter (Jackie Long), a bling-embellished receiver and Lance (Matthew Lawrence), a fumbling quarterback with a cross-dressing father (Nick Searcy). The squad also recruits a sarong wearing female soccer player (Noureen DeWulf) to be their kicker and welcomes a mentally challenged boy (Jermaine Williams) as the coach's assistant. Other faintly familiar characters round out the football roster.

Yet the coach may be the oddest team member of all. Unlike the motivating figures we've come to expect in the arena of athletics, Lambeau insists on mediocrity and failing grades from these academically-able young students. He's also upset when the players don't consume uncontrolled amounts of alcohol or pop illegal pills.

However that's not the only disappointing thing about this script that managed to appeal its way out of an R-rating. With their sights set on the Toilet Bowl, these players don't have high expectations for the season and moviegoers can't hope for anything better. At best, The Comebacks will force viewers to use a pen and paper to keep a running tally of all the titles it lampoons. And that might be the best entertainment one can expect from this thoroughly unfunny and content-laden film.

Studio: Twentieth Century Fox.

Nonstop sexual innuendo, crass anatomical jokes and bathroom humor make up the majority of the script in this sports spoof. The coach and other adult characters promote alcohol consumption and the use of illegal drugs. Along with some rough game play, one character is shot with a handgun and others are threatened with knives or other weapons. A speeding bus hits at least two other characters. Vulgarities, terms of Deity and sexual comments are also included.

What elements are necessary to pull off a successful parody? What is the difference between a genuine spoof and the simple rehashing of a scene?

What is the shelf life of a teen-oriented movie? How might this contribute to the regular reuse of materiel/ideas that this particular genre frequently suffers from?

Spoofing the Star Trek movies and the culture that sprung up around them, Galaxy Quest pokes fun at a group of former actors who are mistaken for real space travelers. Football films Remember the Titans, Radio and Invincible are just three of the sports stories satirized in The Comebacks.

DVD Release Date: 29 January 2008

The Comebacks releases to DVD in a rated and an unrated version. Both are available with audio tracks in English (5.1 Dolby Digital) and Spanish (Dolby Surround), Subtitles are presented in Spanish and French. DVD bonus materials include a commentary by director Tom Brady, deleted scenes, outtakes and various featurettes.