Back to trending
The Comeback Trail

The Comeback Trail

Comedy · Crime · 2020

Two movie producers who owe money to the mob set up their aging movie star for an insurance scam to try and save themselves. But they wind up getting more than they ever imagined.

Movie details

The Comeback Trail

“Hollywood has never pulled a stunt like this!”

2020 Comedy · Crime 1h 44m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

5.7 / 10

14.3K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

31 %

Tomatometer

TMDB

5.8 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

Two movie producers who owe money to the mob set up their aging movie star for an insurance scam to try and save themselves. But they wind up getting more than they ever imagined.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Comeback Trail?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Welcome to Collinwood

Welcome to Collinwood

Comedy · 2002

Five hapless inner-city low-lifes attempt to burgle a pawnbroker's safe, but end up being plagued by bad luck.

Fun with Dick and Jane

Fun with Dick and Jane

Comedy · 2005

After Dick Harper loses his job at Globodyne in an Enron-esque collapse, he and his wife, Jane, turn to crime in order to handle the massive debt they now face. Two intelligent people, Dick and Jane actually get pretty good at robbing people and even enjoy it -- but they have second thoughts when they're reminded that crime can hurt innocent people. When the couple hears that Globodyne boss Jack McCallister actually swindled the company, they plot revenge.

Bandits

Bandits

Comedy · 2001

After escaping from prison, Joe and Terry go on a crime spree, robbing banks through Oregon and California in order to finance their scheme for a new life south of the border. Unfortunately, things get more complicated when they meet Kate, who runs into them with her car. She joins the bandits on their cross-country spree, and eventually she steals something, too: their hearts.

Johnny Dangerously

Johnny Dangerously

Comedy · 1984

An honest, goodhearted man is forced to turn to a life of crime to finance his neurotic mother's skyrocketing medical bills.

Analyze This

Analyze This

Comedy · 1999

Countless wiseguy films are spoofed in this film that centers on the neuroses and angst of a powerful Mafia racketeer who suffers from panic attacks. When Paul Vitti needs help dealing with his role in the "family," unlucky shrink Dr. Ben Sobel is given just days to resolve Vitti's emotional crisis and turn him into a happy, well-adjusted gangster.

The Distinguished Gentleman

The Distinguished Gentleman

Comedy · 1992

A Florida con man uses the recent death of the long time Congressman from his district, who he just happens to share a last name with, to get elected to his version of paradise, the U.S. Congress, where the money flows from lobbyists.

Greedy

Greedy

Comedy · 1994

Meet the McTeagues. They've come to stake a claim in their wealthy uncle's will… only he's not dead yet!

Oscar

Oscar

Comedy · 1991

Angelo "Snaps" Provolone made his dying father a promise on his deathbed: he would leave the world of crime and become an honest businessman. Despite having no experience in making money in a legal fashion, Snaps sets about to keep his promise.

Going in Style

Going in Style

Crime · 2017

Desperate to pay the bills and come through for their loved ones, three lifelong pals risk it all by embarking on a daring bid to knock off the very bank that absconded with their money.

Stark Raving Mad

Stark Raving Mad

Comedy · 2002

A crook quietly plots his revenge against the boss who murdered his brother while working for him.

Where it lives

Watch in your region.

Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.

Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

George Gallo

Written by

Josh Posner · George Gallo

Robert De Niro

Robert De Niro

Max Barber

Morgan Freeman

Morgan Freeman

Reggie Fontaine

Tommy Lee Jones

Tommy Lee Jones

Duke Montana

Zach Braff

Zach Braff

Walter Creason

Emile Hirsch

Emile Hirsch

James Moore

Kate Katzman

Kate Katzman

Megan Albert

Patrick Muldoon

Patrick Muldoon

Frank Pierce

Court is in session

Put The Comeback Trail on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Popcorn Loyalist

“It owes the canon nothing.”

The movie pursues immediacy and audience pleasure without begging institutions to certify its worth.

The prosecution The Prestige Tourist

“Easy pleasure, short half-life.”

It moves efficiently through the moment but offers little reason to keep arguing once the credits end.