The Comebacks

The Comebacks is a 2007 American magical realism satirical comedy film directed by Tom Brady and story by Andrew Jacobson. This film is a parody of the clichés and plots of the sports film genre. It parodies 21 popular sports films along with historical real world sports events, credible live football action and excerpts from The Onion Movie inserted throughout the film. In the UK, Greece, Finland, Australia and New Zealand this film is called Sports Movie. The movie was released to theaters on October 19, 2007. It was partially filmed at the Cal State Fullerton Titan Stadium in Fullerton, California and Shepherd Stadium at Pierce College in Los Angeles, California.

Plot
Coach Lambeau Fields (David Koechner) has the distinction of being the worst coach in the history of sports that anyone can recall. The incompetent and seemingly hopeless coach has a job that he is finally proud of producing the DNA building blocks of the noble Sea Biscuit lineage when he is convinced by fellow coach Freddie Wiseman (Carl Weathers) to return to the field for one last shot. Assuring his long-suffering wife, Barb (Melora Hardin), that he will not ignore his family again, Coach moves them to Plainfolk, Texas where he hopes to redeem himself and his reputation. Here he begins yet another attempt to improve his abysmal record – this time as the coach of the football team at Heartland State University, where he is saddled with a team of misfits.

Although the team and townsfolk are leery of the newcomer's approach, the Coach uses his unorthodox methods and game films to whip this group of rag-tags into shape – both on and off the field. While the audience follows their winding road to the playoffs, the film pokes fun at the clichés and conventions of other sports flicks. The Coach begins ignoring his wife again due to the demands of his work watching pornographic films to prepare his team. A love triangle ensues between Coach's Olympic gymnast daughter, the team's quarterback, and the Comebacks' star running back. This causes a locker room brawl, exposing the conflicts inherent in the diverse group of players. Coach Fields locks them in the locker room until they sort out their differences, and after bonding over a PA system Journey song complete with a laser light show donated by the booster club, the team does make progress. So much so that they actually make it to the South-Southwest Conference Championship at the 2nd Annual Toilet Bowl, where "...the excitement is so thick in this stadium you can cut it with a knife." However, the winning season comes at the expense of Lambeau Field's marriage as Coach's Wife leaves him for an exchange student from an obscure nation.

Facing their fiercest opponents yet and yearning to win the big game, The Comebacks face off with the heavily armed Lone Star State Penitentiary Unbeatables, coached by Lambeau Fields' former best friend Freddy Wiseman. Freddy betrayed Coach after Coach Fields was imprisoned for attempting to teach his honor society team how football players are supposed to behave. Escaping prison during a basketball game against the warden (Dennis Rodman), Coach Fields returned to the college to lead the team to this championship game. The Unbeatables take a large lead using illegal tactics overlooked by the bribed officials. The Comebacks struggle forward gamely against the team of criminals and unfair officiating. And as every great sports team has always done, The Comebacks use ingenuity, unorthodox measures, and dance moves in the final showdown where the best team wins. Coach realizes 'It's not all about winning' and sends a message via the TV camera to Barb. The Comebacks come back against the heavily favored Unbeatables, as they find new strength and courage from the emotional moment. A special play is called from an unlikely source as Coach realizes that Freddy knows where Coach is getting his plays. A dramatic and climatic 2-point conversion attempt to determine the winner is tried. Every breath hangs in the balance, until... The Comebacks are victorious, while Barb has made her way to the stadium and runs to embrace the finally victorious Coach, but Lambeau is subsequently knocked down in a surprise attack by a bus with Freddie driving it, presumably on his way to a polygamous relationship in Mexico, laughing manically as Lambeau is in pain. Lambeau groans in agony after being asked by a TV reporter how it feels to finally be a winner.

Cast

 * David Koechner as Coach Lambeau Fields, the coach of the Heartland Comebacks
 * Carl Weathers as Freddie Wiseman, the coach of the Lone Star State Unbeatables
 * Melora Hardin as Barb Fields, the wife of Lambeau Fields
 * Matthew Lawrence as Lance Truman, quarterback
 * Brooke Nevin as Michelle Fields, the daughter of Lambeau Fields
 * Robert Ri'chard as Aseel Tare ("uh-seel tah-ree", mispronounced by Coach Fields as "ACL tear"), running back
 * Noureen DeWulf as Jizminder Featherfoot, kicker
 * Nick Searcy as Mr. Truman, Lance's father
 * Jackie Long as Trotter, wide receiver
 * Jesse Garcia as Jorge Juanson, receiver
 * George Back as Buddy Boy, lineman
 * Martin Spanjers as Randy Randinger, towel boy
 * Jermaine Williams as iPod
 * Jillian Grace as Maria Sharapova
 * Chauntal Lewis as Freddy's Girl
 * Cameos
 * Eric Christian Olsen as Foreign Exchange Student
 * Andy Dick as Toilet Bowl Referee
 * Dennis Rodman as Warden
 * Bradley Cooper as Cowboy
 * Dax Shepard as Sheriff
 * Jon Gries as Barber
 * Will Arnett as Mailman
 * Kerri Kenney as Sports Judge
 * Lawrence Taylor as himself
 * Michael Irvin as himself
 * Eric Dickerson as himself
 * Stacy Keibler as All-American Mom, a character in the toilet bowl halftime show.
 * Drew Lachey as All-American Dad, a character in the toilet bowl halftime show.
 * Jason Sklar and Randy Sklar as Superfans
 * Frank Caliendo as Chip Imitation

Reaction
On Metacritic, the film received a 25 out of 100 rating from 13 reviews, meaning "generally unfavorable reviews". On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 9% and an average rating of 2.7/10 from 33 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads: "Full of groin-centric humor and tired sports clichés ('Dad, there used to be a big...big man inside of you.' 'There was a reason for that...I was in prison...'), The Comebacks is poor even by parody movie standards."

Blake French of filmcritic.com gave it a 4 out of 5 saying: "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."

Comebacks' stunt actor Mark Chadwick was nominated for the best fire stunt scene by the World Stunt Awards for 2008.

Box office
The Comebacks had an opening weekend of $5.6 million at #5. At the end of its box office run, it grossed $13.3 million in the US and $139,173 in foreign countries. The movie had a budget of $20 million, saw an international box office of $13.5 million< with DVD sales of $9.5 million. Streaming sales are still to be determined.

Soundtrack
The Comebacks' soundtrack features the original song "T&A" performed by White Beaver and written by Christopher Lennertz.