If I were to guess, I’d say that in terms of time tested Hollywood genres, the sports movie and the spoof movie are about as old as each other. It just makes sense then that (finally?) someone put the two together. That’s right, two cliché ridden, formulaic and predictable genres together in one movie. What could possibly go wrong? A question that should have been posed by the makers of The Comebacks before cameras started rolling on this stinker. A terribly unfunny movie that is obviously trying really hard while also being well-researched in terms of references to recent sports movies. It’s just too bad that research into what makes something funny was sorely lacking.



David Koechner finally gets a starring role with by playing Coach Lambeau Fields, a man that’s been a spectacular failure shepherding sports teams of every type. He’s given one last chance to coach a Texas college football team that is extremely well known for being the league punching bag. Aside from the pressure of trying to prove himself, Fields must also contend with his demanding wife Barb (Melora Hardin) and his rebellious daughter Michelle (Brooke Nevin). His team is made up of a bunch of washouts and second-stringers including an entitled all-star (Jackie Long), a female kicker (Noureen DeWulf) and a quarterback that can’t hold on to the ball (Matthew Lawrence).



First of all, after years of being a background player, propping up leading men like Will Ferrell, Steve Carell and even Larry the Cable Guy, Koechner finally gets the leading role. Unfortunately, he doesn’t get to lead a more talented cast or act in a funnier script. The spoofed movies draw only from about the last five years or so, and the includes Invincible, Dodgeball and Bend if Like Beckham, forget obvious college sports movies like – I don’t know – Rudy, Hoosiers and Knute Rockne All American (AKA: “The Gipper”).



Then, what doesn’t follow the standard spoof formula follows the sports movie playbook to a tee. The team, who without even a bit of irony is called the Comebacks, starts out as loveable losers, before becoming surprising winners who are then faced with playing an even more intractable adversary in a crew of obviously dirty cheats and villains. The Coach has personal problems that throws him into a shame spiral that makes him doubt his coach abilities, which, let’s face it, aren’t great to begin with. But everything turns out to be a big smile cookie in the end, it’s just too bad that you don’t care. You know what would have been surprisingly funny? If the Comebacks had gone to the final game and lost horribly.



Another thing that bothered me was Coach Fields constant reprimands to his team for maintaining good marks while playing. Considering the wide spread academic dishonesty and downright dismal scholastic achievement of college football players in the US, is this really the right message? It’s a different story here in Canada where student-athletes are held up to a stricter standard, where the onus is put on homework and were there isn’t the allure of millions from the sports programs. Still though, isn’t there a better way that this too could have been played for laughs?



You know that comedy’s bad when you spend your time watching it by thinking of ways that it could be funnier. After years on the comedy all-star bench, Koechner deserves better, I only hope that nobody uses this as a barometer through which to measure his comedic acumens as a leading man. The Comebacks though is a lost cause; don’t even think of boarding this sinking ship.