While there's nothing groundbreaking in this new '70s-set Will Ferrell sports comedy, first-time director Kent Alterman relies on Ferrell's comedy chops and a strong supporting cast to create an engaging, if imperfect, film.
In this outing, Ferrell (Blades of Glory,Talladega Nights) takes on another fictional sports legend — Jackie Moon, a one-hit-wonder who uses the revenue generated by his soul tune, "Love Me Sexy," to purchase the Flint, Michigan Tropics, a low-ranked team in the now defunct American Basketball Association, which pioneered such roundball staples as the three-point shot and the slam dunk. As the owner and manager, Moon also appoints himself head coach and a starting player. The team is populated by a group of flunkies — including NBA hopeful Clarence Black (Benjamin) — whose basketball skills are rather lacking. Moon himself is more adept at promoting the games than at actually scoring points. But when he learns that the ABA will merge with the more prominent NBA at the end of the season — and that only the top four ABA teams will make the cut — Moon steps it up, trading the team's washing machine for NBA reject Monix (Harrelson), who earned a championship ring sitting on the bench for the Boston Celtics. While Monix uses his NBA skills to whip the team into shape, Moon sets his sights on building a fan base, employing spectacles and promotions such as bear fights, costumed dance numbers and free corndogs to fill the stands.
We don't see anything new from Will Ferrell in Semi-Pro. He's traded in the leisure suits of Anchorman and the leotards of Blades of Glory for high-rise gym shorts and a head of frizzy curls, but the loud antics and manic behavior are just channeled through a slightly different — but equally humorous — character. While Moon's spectacles draw Tropics fans into the Flint Fairground Coliseum, they also serve as some of the movie's funniest segments. When Moon is mauled by a bear and the animal is let loose into the gymnasium, the effects are felt throughout the rest of the film, especially for Moon's supportive sidekick Bobby Dee (Andy Richter). The movie also succeeds largely because of the sprawling cast of supporting players, including Will Arnett (Blades of Glory) and Andrew Daly (TV's Reno 911!) as radio commentators, Matt Walsh (Be Kind Rewind) as a reverend moonlighting as the Tropics' referee, and Oscar-nominee Jackie Earle Haley (Little Children) as a pothead with a knack for half-court shots.
But Semi-Pro is only semi-perfect. A tangential storyline involving Monix's former ties to Flint and a past relationship with a local woman, Lynn (Maura Tierney of TV's ER) falls flat. There's no real investment in the relationship because it seems as if it was tacked onto an already finished screenplay for the sake of providing a romantic angle, and to give Harrelson's character something to do off the court. But 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.
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