Mostly Alley, little Oop

Rating: 7/10 (2 March 2008)

Look! It's another comedy starring Will Ferrell as a man-child in a strange haircut! Will it be funny? Yes, because of two things: First, it's set in the 1970s, which was the funniest decade (to laugh at) ever, and second, it's a sports movie, and those are almost always awesome. It has wacky characters in improbable scenarios, and it has scantily clad women and profanity. It's a can't-lose comedy.
It's 1976, and Jackie Moon's Flint, Michigan Tropics are part of the American Basketball Association (ABA), which has just announced plans to merge with the more-popular National Basketball Association. Trouble is, only the top four teams will be assimilated, and the Tropics are pretty awful. About all they have going for them is the attitude of Moon, their owner/coach/player, and the play of their best player, Clarence "Coffee" Black (Andre Benjamin). The Tropics have acquired a seasoned veteran named Monix (Woody Harrelson), who has a championship ring from his time with the Boston Celtics in hopes of making it up to fourth place. Can they do it? Minor-league sports have long been ripe for parody; see Slap Shot or Bull Durham. But there's something doubly appealing about the wild and woolly lower-level pro leagues combined with the zany, colorful atmosphere of the 1970s. I mean, look at the fashions! The hairstyles! The sheer loudness! Semi-Pro is reminiscent (and perhaps a little derivative) of Slap Shot more than anything else, and that's a compliment. Slap Shot more or less set the standard for lowbrow sports comedies (Bull Durham was much more sophisticated), and it included elements that made their way into Semi-Pro as well, such as the walking-cliché sportscasters and the bed-hopping chicanery - there's just no plot thread that has Ferrell hooking up with the ex-wife of one of his players, like Paul Newman in Slap Shot. But that's okay; in fact, Moon actually makes note of his lack of sexual prowess in a talk to the ball girls - "Some of you I wanted to sleep with, but I never got around to it...Mama always said I procrastinate too much..." The movie works also because Moon, like many of Will Ferrell's goofy characters, never takes himself seriously. He's just a showman in a showy lower-level league. He's immensely popular in Flint, but more as a promoter of his team and the city than of an actual player or coach. In truth, he can't play OR coach, but somehow the Tropics will do okay regardless.
The supporting cast is a lot of fun, too. Somewhere along the line, Woody Harrelson (North Country, No Country for Old Men) has turned into a very good character actor. Love his Dutch Boy haircut here - or is it a Dorothy Hamill? Or maybe it's Mike Patterson's wife Deanna from the comic strip For Better or for Worse. Regardless, his Monix is fantastic, excelling in the athletic scenes as well as the slower dramatic scenes. (It's his second basketball movie, following 1992's White Men Can't Jump.) Maura Tierney as his ex-lover, Andrew Daly as a buttoned-down broadcaster, and Andy Richter as Jackie's "son-friend" are all great as well.
I think it goes without saying that if you like Will Ferrell movies, you'll like this one. It's got plenty for your inner frat boy to love, from lewd comments to a plethora of profanity. No nudity, though, so you skin aficionados can relax. Or get irate, whatever. But the script is punchy and a lot of fun, and Ferrell brings it all together.
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