Semi-Pro

Starring: Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, Andre Benjamin, Maura Tierney, Will Arnett, Andy Richter, Jackie Earle Haley, Rob Corddry, Ed Helms, Tim Meadows
Directed by: Kent Alterman
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Sport
2008

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Jackie Moon (Will Ferrell) owner and player of the Flint Tropics ABA team suddenly finds himself in a quandary with the proposed NBA-ABA merger. Only the top four teams will join the NBA, so now he must get his lackluster team to start winning.

Review:

Tim: Over time, I have grown more and more fond of Will Ferrell's brand of comedy. However, he is one of the most inconsistent actors working today. He gives us some hilarious movies, and some awful ones. This film is not one of his better ones, nor is it very funny. In fact, I was quite surprised that there were very, very few laughs to be found in this movie. Most of the film just comes across as juvenile and silly. It is hard to find much to enjoy in this film.

Will Ferrell simply isn't that funny here. Whether he's going on and on about nothing or fighting a bear, he doesn't evoke many laughs in us. As I've said before, he always has at least one hilarious scene (the dumpster scene is my favorite), but as a whole, he disappoints. The rest of the cast isn't very funny, either. You'll recognize a long list of recognizable faces, but none of them are very good. I will single out Woody Harrelson, because he doesn't play much of a comedic role, but he does improve the movie by playing the (mostly) straight man. His casting greatly helped the movie.

This film doesn't work very well because it's too predictable, and never really gives you a reason to care. You know that the Flint Tropics won't make it to the NBA (they obviously aren't there now), which takes away a great deal of the suspense of the film. None of the characters are particularly likeable, so it's hard to know who to root for. There are a number of smaller subplots, which never actually amount to anything.

Semi-Pro is almost completely a failure. It simply isn't funny, isn't enjoyable, and amounts to nothing more than a misfire from Ferrell and the rest of the cast. Ferrell seems to be going for the shotgun approach to comedy, so I'm sure we can expect a return to form soon.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 5



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