The ComebacksMovie Reviews

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Avg. Critic Score: 25 out of 100 Generally unfavorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
13 Iffy for 13+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 63
    Boston Globe | Wesley Morris

    As dumb spoofs go, The Comebacks isn't bad. It takes almost every sports movie of the last five years ("Field of Dreams," too) and blends them into a single slapdash comedy. Read full review

  • 42
    The Onion A.V. Club | Scott Tobias

    Adhering to few solid comedic principles, The Comebacks swings wildly between lame movie references and slapstick, slightly less lame funny names (such as Aseel Tare, the running back who couldn't possibly be injured) and Airplane!-style spoof, and a few mildly amusing stabs at irony. Read full review

  • 40
    Los Angeles Times | Gene Seymour

    You'll be goaded throughout The Comebacks to think of "Bend It Like Beckham," "Remember the Titans," "Rudy," "Hoosiers," "Field of Dreams" and their ilk. What you also think about is how much this stuff worked better in "Airplane!" or "Blazing Saddles." Read full review

  • 40
    The Hollywood Reporter | Frank Scheck

    Koechner tries hard, but ultimately scores few laughs except for when, like Ferrell, he bares his comically less than toned, fleshy body. Read full review

  • 30
    L.A. Weekly |

    Isn't as obnoxiously awful as, say, "Epic Movie"; it's simply not funny in the least. Read full review

  • 30
    The New York Times |

    The movie's low aspirations are depressing because its best gags are agreeably demented. Read full review

  • 30
    Variety | Joe Leydon

    An exceptionally lame genre parody that plumbs depths of ineptitude heretofore charted only by the marginally less abysmal "Date Movie." Read full review

  • 25
    TV Guide | Ken Fox

    We're treated to endless scenes of women getting slammed, thrown and clothes lined, while men's genitals are grabbed, groped, stroked and tasered. It's all just as painful as it sounds. Read full review

  • 20
    Austin Chronicle |

    It's too bad the filmmakers didn't have a longer view of film history, though; maybe their jokes would have been more interesting if they'd been aimed at, say, "Somebody Up There Likes Me" or "The Pride of the Yankees." Read full review

  • 0
    Entertainment Weekly |

    Probably the worst movie that's sludged across my professional eyeballs -- worse than "Daddy Day Camp," "Baby Geniuses 2," and "BloodRayne." Read full review

View more reviews for The Comebacks on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 13+ Crude sports spoof too dumbed-down to be funny.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that because this sports-movie spoof has been marketed as being from the creators of Wedding Crashers, it's definitely going to appeal to teens. Originally rated R (it got its PG-13 on appeal), it has a lot of sexual references -- mostly through double entendres and sight gags (a wife is caught in bed with another man, a girl gymnast makes several lesbian jokes, etc.) -- though no actual nudity. There's also drinking and drug use, particularly on the part of the crazy coach who wants his players to learn how to party. Some language ("s--t") and cartoonish, slapstick-type violence.
  • Families can talk about the differences between a parody and its source material. Is it easy to identify which movies are being spoofed here? Which gags work, and which aren't funny? Do you think anyone will find any of it funny decades from now, when half of the references will have been forgotten? Do you think the filmmakers care about that? Why or why not? Also, the coach demands that his players start failing class and party more; is that believable? Are sports movies as predictable as this comedy suggests? If so, is that necessarily a bad thing?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: The players are encouraged to fail their classes in order to devote all their energy to playing college football.
What to watch for
  • violence false3 Violence: A gun is shot in a cartoonish manner during a coaching drill. A player has an over-the-top injury during a football game. Lots of physical, slapstick-type gags.
  • sex false3 Sex: Lots and lots of sexual jokes and double meanings. A teenage girl kisses two different guys and shows off her bra in two scenes. A married woman is caught wearing lingerie in bed with a shirtless man. The coach strips down to his underwear (briefs) during a party. An aroused player is able to hang his helmet on his erection. A female gymnast makes several jokes alluding to her sexual orientation.
  • language false3 Language: Language includes "s--t," "bulls--t," and sometimes-crude sexual jokes. A mentally impaired fan is called a "retard," "spaz," "moronic," etc.
  • consumerism false3 Consumerism: Brief Usual Suspects parody shows off the following brands: Champs, Scope, Aim, Pledge, Joy, Cheer, Shout, Depends, and Preparation-H. My Little Pony, X-Box, and Fox Sports are also featured.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Several characters drink 80-oz. bottles of beer; the coach takes pills and a bong hit and drinks too much at a party.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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