Semi-crap... and semi-amusing

Rating: 5/10 (12 March 2008)

Will Ferrell has a very interesting career with all sorts of ups and downs and twists and turns. Some of his movies scream comedic brilliance while others make you shake your head in shame. Ferrell's last film, Blades of Glory, was 'kind of' funny, but definitely didn't stand up to repeated viewings. Semi-Pro was all sorts of promising. With a sensational cast and plenty of material to build off of, it was almost guaranteed that this movie would be the next Anchorman or Talladega Nights. Semi-Pro stars Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, Will Arnett, and Andy Richter. The film is directed by Kent Alterman and written by Scot Armstrong.
Jackie Moon (Will Ferrell) is the semi-pathetic singer/owner/player/coach of the Flint Michigan Tropics, a basketball team known for its absolutely horrible games. When the ABA merges with the NBA, Jackie Moon decides that he'll do anything it takes to get his team on the fast-track to becoming NBA all-stars.
The movie was promising, no doubt about it, but the fact of the matter is that all of these jokes feel like recycled material from a trashy '70s picture. Will Ferrell, for once, isn't absolutely hysterical in his role as Jackie Moon. His other roles were at least semi-believable, especially his best one in Anchorman as Ron Burgundy. Woody Harrelson actually comes off as kind of annoying, and the whole film felt way too long. The only role that actually made me laugh occasionally was Will Arnett's Lou Redwood. Then again, he can take any hideous role and transform it into something magical; we all saw The Brothers Solomon. Or wait, actually no one did.
There are several laugh-out-loud sequences in Semi-Pro, but for some reason, none of these have anything to do with basketball. It's all like one big skit, throwing gag after gag toward the audience and hoping that something sticks. "Love Me Sexy", Jackie Moon's hit song, is probably the single funniest thing in the entire film, followed closely by a bear-wrestling scene and a 'jive turkey' argument while playing cards. The movie isn't all terrible, it just wasn't as great as anticipated. It was repetitive, stale, and kind of boring, but it definitely had some shining moments.
Semi-Pro is the perfect title for a semi-likable movie. It was semi-funny, semi-stupid, and semi-entertaining. Will Ferrell has finally made a bad movie, one which he definitely won't be remembered for. You would think that the R-rating could finally give Ferrell the chance he needed to have complete and total freedom over the content and jokes. For some strange reason, it has the opposite effect; it brings the movie down into a pit from which it is never able to rise. This one is worth skipping, unless you prefer your movies to be semi-enjoyable.