The Comeback Trail is a remake of the 1982 action comedy of the same name. This remake is directed and partly written by George Galo, the director of Middle Men and 29th Street.
The film is about the film producer Max Barber (Robert De Niro), who has not been able to make successful films for a while. For financial support, he borrowed money from the mafia and now he owes money to criminal Reggie Fontaine (Morgan Freeman). When he learns that Duke Montana (Tommy Lee Jones) .the lead role of his new planned movie has a high life insurance premium, Max tries to have him die. He hopes to be able to use the money from Duke's life insurance to pay off the mafia. Unfortunately for Max, Duke keeps surviving all of his dangerous stunts.
This movie is nicely filled with information about how she used to make movies. For example, this film is fun for film fans who are interested in the information of films and what happens behind the scenes. Unfortunately, the film later turns more into a cartoon like the Looney Tunes Roadrunner and Wile Coyote, where the film producer always unsuccessfully tries to kill the actor in a deadly way. Thus the film loses its seriousness and looks more like a children's film. The film is so much more fun for a younger audience and older viewers who like childish humor. Apart from the comedy elements, the film also has a good drama aspect about two elderly men who are somewhat insecure about their life and career in the film world. Unfortunately, this aspect is also somewhat overshadowed by the film's comedy.
The acting is well done by the film cast. Robert De Niro is doing well as the film producer who always tries to kill his star player without success. However, this is not the best comedy in which he has appeared in recent years. Morgan Freeman has a smaller role in this movie, but it's nice to see him again in the role of a villain. Tommy Lee Jones knows how to carry this film, even though he only actually appears in the film halfway. He comes across as an older actor, who no longer plays in major movie roles. This is almost really the case for his real acting career, as he can now be seen more in smaller film roles.
