by rick grant rickgrant01@comcast.net
C+ PG-13 84 min
The insipid rah-rah sports movie genre is definitely ripe for parody. This comedy spoofs just about every sports movie cliché ever used in these formulaic films. In this frat-house styled comedy, the satire is not sophisticated and it uses a series of skits or sight-gags to get laughs.
Comedic character actor David Koechner portrays loser coach Lambeau Fields. Koechner rarely takes the lead and is usually part of an ensemble cast. Yes, he’s funny, but not funny enough to carry the picture. Therein lay one of the flaws of this parody–the lack of a prominent comedic star. In contrast, the script seems to be written from story-board ideas of various skits that work seventy percent of the time. That’s a pretty good percentage.
The incompetent Coach Fields takes over the rag-tag Comebacks in an impossible bid to win games. His players are a bunch of miscreants with one star player, Trotter (Jackie Long). Cue black stereotypes when Trotter arrives for practice in a limo with his entourage, including his own cheerleaders. There is the handsome quarterback Lance, who is known for fumbling the ball, and the rest of this loser team. Lance’s girlfriend wears a football shaped bra so he can practice holding onto the “ball.”
Coach Fields goes on a tirade when he discovers that all the players are making passing grades and some are on the dean’s list. Real football players are athletes first, scholars second, according to Coach Fields’ playbook. “I want academic probation–I want felonies and lawsuits,” he screams. Every character is pushed to the extreme, which gleans plenty of laughs.
The cast does what it can to make funny and their efforts at least keep the comedy motor idling. The coach’s daughter tries to scandalize her father by dating Trotter. “He is my black boyfriend,” she chirps. Coach Fields barely notices his daughter’s attempt to piss him off. So, she takes up with Lance, a guy who seems to be having sexual identity problems, maybe because his dad works part time as a cross-dresser specializing in a shabby Cher impersonation at a gay club. In this low-level comedy, anything goes to get a cheap laugh.
The coach enlists an Indian soccer champion a la Bend It Like Beckham to be the team kicker. The towel boy is the coach’s whipping boy. A mentally challenged black kid is the team mascot, which is an obvious reference to Cuba Gooding Jr’s Radio, but this kid pushing the grocery basket uses an iPod instead of a radio, thus his nickname, “iPod.”
Director Tom Brady (not the quarterback) even threw in a flashy Journey tribute band sequence that is hilarious. Viewers will ask, “Were they that ridiculous?” Yes, but it’s a highlight of the film. Brady attempts to parody the redemption angle of the typical sports movie but, in so doing, he ends up losing the thread of what he’s parodying.
In all sports movies, the momentum builds to the final championship game with the underdogs coming from behind against all odds to end up in the final game. Brady makes his point that these films are so predicable there is a wealth comedy material to skewer the big emotional finish. He does a fair job sending up this hokey big finish with just about every grand finale cliché imaginable. The Comebacks rally from 34 to zip to win the game.
As spoofs go, this film is palatable. It’s aimed at viewers who love to laugh at slapstick and sight-gags. After viewing this film, mainstream sports movies will take on a whole new undercurrent of comedy.
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EU Critic’s Choice Awards
