Movie filled with sight-gags and very little meat

Rating: 3/10 (27 February 2008)

(Synopsis) Jackie Moon (Will Ferrell) is the owner, promoter, coach, and star player of the Flint Michigan Tropics of the American Basketball Association (ABA). In 1976 before the ABA collapses, the National Basketball Association (NBA) plans to merge with the best teams of the ABA at the end of the season. Only the top four teams will make the move and the worst teams will fold. The Tropics are the worst team in the league and if they want to make it to the NBA, Jackie Moon must rally his team and start winning. The only problem with that scenario is the fact that Jackie Moon is not really the coach and star basketball player he thinks he is. He was able to buy the Tropics franchise with proceeds that he had earned from his hit song "Love Me Sexy". To keep his team from oblivion and leave his mark in the city, Jackie Moon must inspire his team to win fourth place in the playoffs. Jackie trades a washing machine to another team for a former NBA benchwarmer, Monix (Woody Harrelson) to reach his goal. This was Monix's last season before he retires, and he wants to go out in a blaze of glory.
(My Comment) The premise of this sports-comedy movie is loosely based on spoofing the old ABA basketball league. The story tells how the worst team in the ABA with a bench of down and out losers is given a second chance at winning the big game. Will Ferrell's character is the one who must inspire the team to reach inside themselves and go for the gold with the help of Woody Harrelson. Now this is the only part of the movie that tried to be above all the craziness and silliness of the rest of the movie. I knew from the movie trailers that this movie was not going to tax my brain, and I was right. You will find yourself laughing at a number of comedy sight-gag skits. There is a scene at the poker table where someone is called Jive Turkey, and a gun it passed around, and it's so funny, because you just know that someone must dodge a bullet. Then there's the basketball court brawl, during the TV commercial, which is hilarious because it ends when they came back on the air! Don't go into the theater thinking you will see a great comedy, because it is not, but it is entertaining and that is all. There are some scenes that were put in for shock value that really didn't add anything and didn't need to be there. If you like Will Ferrell, then it is OK to go see this movie; if not, see something else. (New Line Cinema, Run Time 1:30, Rated R)(3/10)