 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
The Comebacks
- Review Date: January 28, 2008
- PG-13
- Genre: Comedy
- 2007
Common Sense Media says
Crude sports spoof too dumbed-down to be funny.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
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.
What's the story?
David Koechner isn't an actor whose name most moviegoers likely recognize, but he's got one of those unforgettably funny faces. He's a second-tier member of the Will Ferrell/Steve Carell comedy frat pack and has appeared in Anchorman, Talladega Nights, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Reno 911!: Miami, and many more. And while it's high time that Koechner landed a leading role in a comedy, THE COMEBACKS isn't worthy of his talent. Basically an Epic Movie-style spoof of sports flicks, The Comebacks follows the same predictable plot formula as many of the "inspiring true stories" it's mocking. Koechner plays Lambeau Fields (yes, like the home of the Green Bay Packers), an infamously bad coach who's hired to lead a small Texas college football team. Their name: The Comebacks.
Is it any good?
Despite spoofing elements of every sports movie from Rudy to Radio to the TV version of Friday Night Lights, the jokes often fall flat. Anyone over the age of 8 could explain why a "wiener joke" is infantile, and showing a close-up of gymnasts spreading their legs open is just plain gross. Apparently the screenwriters weren't aiming high, because The Comebacks's obvious humor makes the Scary Movie series look like Shakespearean comedy.
The film's only highlights are the various cameos from Koechner's comedic pals. Will Arnett (The Brothers Solomon), Kerri Kenney-Silver (Reno 911!), Dax Shepard (Let's Go to Prison), and Finesse Mitchell (Saturday Night Live) are just some of the comic actors who pop up. But they can't save this mess from being a major fumble.
Explore, discuss, enjoy
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?
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Teen, 13 years old
April 9, 2008
AGE
VERY BAD BUT VERRRY FUNNY!
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Teen, 15 years old
April 9, 2008
AGE
WORST MOVIE EVER!!!!
This movie was so bad. It isn't funny at all which is a problem since it is intended to be a comedy.
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Kid, 11 years old
July 26, 2010
AGE
WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT...
I WATCHED THIS MOVIE ON TV AND I HAVE TO SAY... THIS WAS ONE OF THE WORST MOVIES IVE EVER SEEN! I ONLY LAUGHED TWO TIMES! MOST OF THE JOKES ARENT EVEN FUNNY JUST SOMEONE GETTING HIT WITH SOMETHING OR SOMETHING VULGAR IN A NOT FUNNY WAY! IM 11 YEARS OLD AND EVEN I DIDN'T LAUGH ASIDE FROM TWO JOKES! I LOVE STUPID COMEDIES AND SPOOFS BUT THIS ISNT FUNNY! IT'S NOT AS BAD AS DISASTER MOVIE BUT IT'S AS BAD OR MAYBE EVEN WORSE THAN EPIC MOVIE! YOU CAN WATCH IT IF YOU WANT TO BUT IF YOU WANNA TAKE MY ADVICE... AVOID IT. 13+
What other families should know:
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Teen, 17 years old
April 9, 2008
AGE
Load of crap
This movie is DEFINITELY funny...but it is so crude and the sexual jokes are SO bad that I walked out of the movie. Because of so many other movies out there that have the same kind of humor I'm tempted to say "watch if your old enough". But really nobody should watch this movie. It has lots of stuff nobody should put in their mind
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Teen, 13 years old
July 10, 2011
AGE
Crude, rude, random, but VERY funny!
As an actual movie, this was a terrible blowout. But as a comedy, it actually works! The movie is random and makes fun of a ton of other movies, but it is so funny! Lots of sexual humor and bad language and I can totally see CSM's point of view. But for teens this is hillarious! see it!
What other families should know:
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Teen, 13 years old
June 17, 2010
AGE
Funny and amusing, but inapropriate.
I am 13 years old, and I found this film super funny. I could totally see where a parent would be coming from though if they felt it was too inapropriate for their child. I wouldn't let my child see it!
What other families should know:
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Teen, 16 years old
April 9, 2008
AGE
this movie SUCKED
this is the worst excuse for a movie ever whoever made this movie shuld be forsed to apoligise to the inter world for waisting film on this movie.
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Kid, 10 years old
July 16, 2011
AGE
FUN
FUNNYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
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| Studio: | Fox Atomic |
| Director: | Tom Brady |
| Cast: | Carl Weathers, David Koechner, Melora Hardin |
| Genre: | Comedy |
| Run time: | 84 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | October 19, 2007 |
| DVD release date: | January 29, 2008 |
| MPAA rating: | PG-13 |
| MPAA explanation: | crude and sexual content throughout and some drug material (re-rated on appeal). |
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