Semi-Pro

Ultimately, we don't purchase tickets to Will Ferrell movies for their sweeping romantic storylines, but because he makes us laugh. And Semi-Pro offers plenty of reasons to do so.

The problem with Semi-Pro is that it keeps forgetting it's a parody of sports movies; the final scenes are supposed to be uplifting (sort of) but they're not fooling anyone. The film's much better when it just lets the guys gas and sass each other.

The comedy is sloppy, crude and contains far too many misfires, but the film does capture the old ABA spirit in its ungainly struggles to wrestle laughs from seriously mediocre material.

The laughs do come, but not as readily, not as heartily and not as joyfully as you might expect.

Semi-Pro is the perfect name for this movie, because it feels like a half-baked comedy made by semi-professionals.

For die-hard Ferrell fans, this could be the ultimate test. He has been playing variations of "Elf" for five years, and his antics have grown as stale as Jackie's socks.

But basketball … basketball doesn’t deserve the Ferrell treatment. Basketball is a sport of kings, a thing of beauty and elegance, America’s game. Which doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be mocked but that if it must be mocked it deserves to be mocked well, and Semi-Pro, unfortunately, isn’t up to the challenge.

It's certainly a more forgettable Will Ferrell film, but it isn't that bad. Will Ferrell still carries the film on his back and has a lights out performance.

The movie begins with the exploits of Jackie Moon, played by Will Ferrell, and his basketball team, the Flinttropics. Jackie was a one-hit wonder whose only hit was "Love Me Sexy," and while he had a basketball team, he had no money and a weak team. It is highly unlikely that they will be motivated from here. I guess so. Predictability is a pretty big drawback in movies. Stories and jokes are also mostly predictable. Maybe a loss won't break up the team. There's also a scene in which he plays with an unloaded gun, but it would probably explode anyway. I gave this movie three stars because I was unexpectedly enjoying it. Being predictable doesn't mean being boring. Because there are some funny moments and I don't hate these sports comedies. I have come to feel that this is a movie where even its flaws can be loved. The alley-oop in the movie seems to be a real skill. It saved me from criticizing it as impossible. The team is fictitious, but the ABA was real and the play seemed so real that, ironically, basketball alone seems to have realism even though the rest of it can't be done. That doesn't make it a classic, but it's fun. I don't care if this was Woody Harrelson's waste.

Weird but good movie. Very funny and I love basketball. Will Ferrell cracks me up. Their one of the worse teams fighting for the new expansion team for the NBA.

Semi-Pro is hyper-typical Will Ferrell stuff. All the usual crazy stuff is present and accounted for; fighting with bears, bursts of anger at nothing in particular, mass brawls... etc. And it's pretty funny too. Nowhere near as good as something like Anchorman or The Ballad of Ricky Bobby but it's still decent fun.

A Semi-Mess. Actually no. It's just a mess. The jokes don't hit. The acting is awkward. And the story is unclear. This is definitely one of the minor Ferrell films, and is an example of when improvised comedy doesn't work, as the film just felt utterly confused, and it really dragged. I just don't have much to say about it. It's extremely sub-par. Semi-par more like. Ha.