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If I could digress before this review and explain the life and death of sports comedies; when the breed was a mere toddler, Chevy Chase and Rodney Dangerfield gave the subject its biped motion through Caddyshack.
Flash forward sixteen years and our genre is a young man; Adam Sandler is busy teaching sports comedies the sensual art of tango and meringue vis-a-vis Happy Gilmore and Waterboy. Who'd a thunk that a mere decade later our young miscreant would be bedridden and suffering from senile dementia. No, this isn't an analogy for The Comebacks (that would be too much praise). This move is the first nail in the coffin of its dead corpse.
This is a poor excuse for a film — riddled with clichés, badly timed jokes and (at moments) offensive subject matter. Let's talk about clichés: If I was writing a forgettable comedy, how would I get the restless mob to watch it? Well, how about I make fun of the defenseless like: fat people, homosexuals, drag queens, substance abusers and the mentally-challenged for added measure? Check! How about I parody other parodies like Dodgeball, Blades of Glory and The Replacements? Double check! If that doesn't work, how about peppering some gratuitous slapstick: farts, testicle kicking, sexual-innuendos, more flatus? Triple Check!
If you're still interested after all those warnings, then you're either insensitive to reason or a committed masochist. If you must know the plot, the film is a "parody" of the inspirational sports genre. David Koechner (Will Ferrell's right-hand man) plays a down-on-his-luck coach who is given one more chance at integrity relevancy. It's kind of a Remember the Titans meets Talladega Nights. Of course, that's only if you're trying to sell this movie or you're drunk.
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