Semi-Pro

I never for a moment believed that this movie would be earth-shattering or mind-blowing. I expected it to be along the lines of "Talladega Nights" or "Kicking & Screaming," and it was. There were a few laugh out loud moments, and a few mildly amusing stretches, and then there were parts that just weren't funny at all.

But the overall experience wasn't that bad, considering I was just looking for a movie that would make me laugh and pass the night away on those rare date nights with my wife.

The only real complaint I had about it was the language. I thought some of the profanity was a bit excessive, especially considering past Will Ferrell movies. And that's really all the R rating is there for.

One of the joys of being a university student is getting invited to free sneak previews. I went to one last night, where the front half of the theater was packed with students while the back was filled with members of the writing team, taking careful notes on which jokes we did and did not laugh at. For the most part, the reaction was positive, and the jokes that failed miserably will probably get edited out by the time the movie officially opens.

The movie was pretty sports-comedy formulaic, with the down-and-out lovable losers getting a big chance, then introducing a new character who will inspire them, and a few montages later, the big finale. The R-rating was used mainly on adding in lots of cuss-words, with mixed humorous results. There was a really funny joke about masturbation. I was hoping for a little more basketball craziness, but oh well.

The highlight, of course, was Will Ferrel meeting the 70s. I myself was not alive in the 70s, so I only know about the culture through the disco-funk lens of caricature cinema. Ferrel is one funky mofo so he thrives. I would say this was one of his better efforts, topping Taladega nights, Elf, and the ice skating one. It's not as good as Anchorman, mainly because it's just not as quotable.

In short, if you like Will Ferrel, or 70s funk (the soundtrack is hella dope), see this movie.

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.

i'll be honest there are a few laughs in this film. But do not go to the cinema to see this film, just catch it on TV otherwise you'll come out of the cinema feeling you could have spent your on money on something more useful...like a pen, paper and proceed to write to the production company to let them know that they flaked out with this movie.

Ferrell is funny, its just the rest of the cast that aren't. The jokes throughout aren't particularly great. But i guess it is watchable.

I just hope this formula of sport/comedy film's is either scrapped. If it is used again hopefully someone will do a good job.

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