THE COMEBACKS

(not rated)
MOVIE: *1/2 (out of 5)
DVD EXPERIENCE: *** (out of 5)

STARRING
David Koechner as LAMBEAU FIELDS
Carl Weathers as FREDDIE WISEMAN
Melora Hardin as BARB FIELDS
Matthew Lawrence as LANCE TRUMAN
Brooke Nevin as MICHELLE FIELDS

Directed by: Tom Brady

Studio: Fox Atomic

BY KEVIN CARR

These are dark days in the landscape of movie spoofs. It’s bad enough that you have those wretched “2 of the 6 writers of ‘Scary Movie’” cranking out garbage like “Epic Movie” and “Meet the Spartans.” There are others in the mix as well, namely Tom Brady, giving us stinkers like “The Comebacks.”

Like recent spoof goofs, “The Comebacks” sets its sights on a subgenre – inspirational sports movies. It’s not that there isn’t plenty of fodder out there. After all, we’ve seen these films reach a fever pitch with weepy grabs like “We Are Marshall” and “Glory Road.” However, like its contemporaries such as “Epic Movie,” this film handles the delicate comedy with the finesse of a chainsaw.

The movie follows a washed up coach named Lambeau Fields (David Koechner) who has been a loser all his life. He takes a final career stab at coaching a college football team, populated with character rip-offs of everything from “Friday Night Lights” to “Radio.”

Rather than actually feigning a story, “The Comebacks” is merely a hodgepodge of pop-culture references. Most of them draw from sports movies (which can be a little obscure, including references to “Stick It” and “Blue Crush”). Fortunately, it’s not as random as “Epic Movie” and “Meet the Spartans.” We don’t have to deal with crappy Paris Hilton wannabes in this film.

I tend to like David Koechner, but not in the lead role. His over-the-top caricature acting is only palatable in small doses. And while Brooke Nevin is fetching as his rebel daughter, she’s not enough to carry the rest of the all-too-annoying cast.

If you’re one of those people that just can’t get enough of substandard movie spoofs, you can check this one out and probably have a few laughs. However, it really tries too hard and has too many jokes that just fall flat.

The DVD comes in an unrated version, which really doesn’t live up to its name. Aside from a few more swear words, there’s not much extra in the cut. It would have been nice to have the gratuitous nude show of the Comeback cheerleaders, but the PG-13 aim was too clear in the film.

Otherwise, the special features are actually pretty decent, including a director’s commentary, deleted scenes, bloopers, cheerleader segments, and various behind-the-scenes moments where the actors goof on their characters and each other.