Semi-Pro

It was absolutely hilarious. I love this movie, I love the sarcasm that goes into making fun of amateur sports and how easy it is to make it as a funk singer.

Figured the holiday was a great time to catch this movie, which I wasn't overly excited about, but thought it would be something to do on a lazy afternoon.

Got to the cinema a tad early and sat down and played some golf on my phone. About 10 mins in and I was the only one there. Awesome. Sadly about 5mins later two losers with no friends walked in, making it a cosy cinema of 3.

The film starts with a pre-game intro of the Flint Tropics, a struggling team in the former ABA basketball league. We learn from the get go that Jackie Moon (Ferrell, in a role not much of a stretch for him) is the team owner, promoter, coach as well as a player. Jackie brought the team on the back of his one-hit wonder "Love Me Sexy" and is in it just for the fame and fun. Before too long Jackie finds out his team will absorbed by the ABA-NBA merger...unless he can get them in the Top 4 teams. Jackie goes out and signs (from a trade for a washing machine) Monix, played by formerly good actor Woody Harrelson in a minor attempt to tun things around. Soon he makes some other changes, such as agreeing to let Monix become coach to get his team into the NBA. Will it work......? See it to find out.

There's some more good quirky Ferrell humour, but this isn't a classic. The story had a lot more potential but in some circumstances went too oddball and weird and missed some good opportunities, probably largely due to the extra screen time given to Ferrell. Give him a few better support comedians and this could have been a classic. They missed some great opportunities with the basketball action too. One of the early scenes was gold.....but then after that very little was paid attention to.

This movie hinges on one simple fact: do you or do you not just enjoy Will Ferrel?

If the answer to that is yes, then you will enjoy this a lot. Because there's not much new doing here: it's Ferell as another idiotic, self-loving, loud and beef-headed, dim-witted professional...insert obscure profession or athlete. This is just "Anchorman", "Ricky Bobby", "Blades of Glory", or what have you, except in basketball. If you enjoy those movies, and Will Ferrel's shameless antics (I'm not saying they're bad, I'm just saying I want to see him try something else now and then) then here's one for you.

But I also give kudos to the supporting players (like Woody Harrelson, who in a stroke of brilliance, is acting like he's in a real drama and not a spoof), the inspired 70's soundtracks and references. 6/10

the first 30mins of this movie is as good as anchorman i mean i was laughing out loud in the cinema. after that it goes down hill though i don't think will ferrell is to blame. while anchorman and dodgeball had a great supporting cast of characters semi pro only has will ferrell and the two commentators that raise a laugh.

many jokes didn't work for me because of the subject matter (i don't know much about basketball) and the sex scene falls flat on it's face and is embarrassing to watch. the jive turkey scene i didn't get and when will ferrell is off the screen the film starts to take it self too seriously and you're just wanting will to come back on the screen and do something funny.

will ferrell is on top form in this movie but a lot more could have been made of his character. the premise of a washed up singer spending ridiculous amounts of money is a good idea, but is stuck in a sports movie were the loser team comes good in the end. we've seen so many times before and sadley done better.

i love will ferrell but i can see why he has so many haters. while i think he'll never better anchorman semi pro and blades of glory for me show a decline and his next film needs to be a step in the right direction.

Semi-Pro takes place in the 1970s and is all about a small time basketball team named the Flint Michigan Tropics. The head coach, owner, and promoter is Jackie Moon (Will Ferrell) and he and his team dream of expanding to be part of the big time NBA. However Jackie is told that in order to actually have a chance at getting into the NBA, the Tropics have to get at least 2000 fans in their stadium by deadlines. The problem is that the Tropics do a little more dancing, fighting, and flailing around the court than actually playing the game. So Jackie hires a new team player named Monix (Woody Harrelson) who actually used to play for the NBA. From there on in it's up to Jackie, Monix, and the whole team to fire up some wild and crazy events for the crowd and actually learn to play the sport properly for once in order to reach their dreams.

Will Ferrell has made a bunch of funny movies already. Whether it be Anchorman, Talladega Nights, Blades of Glory, and Old School. I haven't seen all of them but I heard they were all funny, mostly because of Will Ferrell's comedic brilliance. Semi-Pro is a funny film but it's really only semi-funny, whereas the rest of Ferrell's movies were hilarious romps. Semi-Pro seems undercooked in the hilarious gag department offering a few very funny moments, but the rest of the movie only has little jokes that usually only offer giggles. My favorite moment in Semi-Pro is when Jackie Moon gets called on a foul by the ref (Also the church priest), and Jackie yells in his face an obscenity and "I'll kill your family!" Another scene that will end up a Will Ferrell classic is when he wrestles a bear, and it ends up attacking him and then getting loose in the stadium.

The music in Semi-Pro is awesome with its funky 70s soundtrack. There's also a song played through the movie sung by Jackie Moon called "Love Me Sexy", and it is as funny a song as Will Ferrell can bring. The rest of the cast includes Outkast's talented Andre Benjamin, Maura Tierney, and Will Arnett and Andrew Daly as two hilarious TV show hosts and broadcasters for the Tropics. Woody Harrelson does a fine job in Semi-Pro but he's never funny, all because the script makes his character Monix serious instead of funny. Maura Tierney really just sits around without much to really do, and even Andre Benjamin's character is made too serious to give us any laughs. I just don't understand why so many of the characters in Semi-Pro were so serious. This is a Will Ferrell comedy, everyone should have some funny moments. This problem is what makes Semi-Pro a mixed bag because only half the movie is really very funny, the rest of the movie is pulled down by far too much seriousness.

Will Ferrell and the musical soundtrack are what elevate Semi-Pro to the point where I can recommend it. Will Ferrell is still a very funny guy and I'm sure he has a lot more hilarious comedies on the way in the mere future. But Semi-Pro pretty much gives Ferrell all the funny moments, when his other movies like Anchorman gave the other characters classic moments as well. I give Semi-Pro a 2.5 out of 4, and a recommendation. It has its moments but is dragged down by far too many unfunny characters.