I'm a big fan of Will Ferrell, I first saw him in the hilarious Christmas comedy Elf, and then in the fantastic sports film Blades of Glory. So when my fiance and I saw on IMDB.com that he had another sports film which this time revolved around basketball was coming out, we knew we had to hire ... Read review
Semi Pro stars Will Ferrel as Jackie Moon a one hit wonder who uses the profits from his ... more
chart topping song 'Love Me Sexy ' to advance his dream of owning a basketball team. But Moon's basketball team the Flint Michigan Tropics are the worst in the league and are in danger of folding. In order to survive Jackie and the Tropics must achieve the impossible - winning!
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Advantages: Will Arnett is hilarious Disadvantages: Jokes fall flat, not funny enough
I'm a big fan of Will Ferrell, I first saw him in the hilarious Christmas comedy Elf, and then in the fantastic sports film Blades of Glory. So when my fiance and I saw on IMDB.com that he had another sports film which this time revolved around basketball was coming out, we knew we had to hire it out on DVD as soon as it came out. I managed to get it on my online rental service and we sat down to watch it this weekend, looking forward to lots of ... ...Moon is the owner/coach/promoter of Michigan basketball team The Tropics. However, the Tropics don't seem to be that good, and when Jackie finds out that only 4 local teams are going to be going through to the NBA, he decides that he is going to make The Tropics a success. Together with his team and "assistant-coach" Monix, Moon is determined to make his team a success against all the odds. But will they get to the coveted NBA?
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I'm a big fan of Will Ferrell, I first saw him in the hilarious Christmas comedy Elf, and then in the fantastic sports film Blades of Glory. So when my fiance and I saw on IMDB.com that he had another sports film which this time revolved around basketball was coming out, we knew we had to hire it out on DVD as soon as it came out. I managed to get it on my online rental service and we sat down to watch it this weekend, looking forward to lots of laughs and a great film.
Jackie Moon is the owner/coach/promoter of Michigan basketball team The Tropics. However, the Tropics don't seem to be that good, and when Jackie finds out that only 4 local teams are going to be going through to the NBA, he decides that he is going to make The Tropics a success. Together with his team and "assistant-coach" Monix, Moon is determined to make his team a success against all the odds. But will they get to the coveted NBA?
Considering the film stars a great comedy actor in Will Ferrell, and also a great Hollywood actor Woody Harrelson, this film had the makings of a being a great comedy as well as a good sports film. However, by the end, both my fiance and I said that we didn't think it was funny at all, and that it really was a disappointment. Ferrell's previous sports/comedy Blades of Glory delivered on all accounts - great comedy, a great cast and some fantastic sports scenes. All these areas seemed to lack in this film, and that is what really completely let the film down.
Ferrell against plays a bit of an eccentric character in the way of Jackie Moon. Being set in the 1970's, Ferrell has an enormous afro, which makes you laugh all by itself. But he just doesn't have the charm and comedy stylings of his previous roles, seemingly wittering on in scenes which could have been much shorter, and not fulfilling the potential of other comedy scenes. Although he and Harrelson have a good on-screen partnership, they fail to produce many laughs and the comedy element is seriously lacking here.
André Benjamin, Will Arnett and Maura Tierney make up the other main players in the cast, all doing a decent job with the limited material they are given. Benjamin does shine as Coffee Black, the Tropics star player, but again is very limited in his screen time and his rol. Arnett is simply hilarious as commentator Lou Redwood, a chain-smoker drinker, a really great addition to the cast who again isn't given enough time in the film to shine. And finally Tierney, most famous for her role as Abby in ER, is in so few scenes, you could blink and miss her. She's a great actress and I feel very underused in this film, not involved with the main plot at all, and somewhat sidelined in filler scenes. Despite these great cast members, there was just nobody to rival Ferrell's comedy and consequenty no one to bounce the comedic lines off, and therefore they really did fall flat. In Blades of Glory, Ferrell had the fantastic Jon Heder to create that brilliant comedic on-screen relationship with, and the pairing was just hilarious. But that person just didn't exist in this film, with Harrelson just not being funny enough to carry on the comedy momentum, and this really is a major factor in why the film just wasn't funny.
Considering that this is marketed as a sports film, there is very little sport actually played during the film. It really chooses to focus on Ferrell and the development of his character entirely, rather than focusing on the team and the basketball aspect of the film. It isn't until right near the end of the film that a sports fan really get to see any decent basketball, and even then this doesn't last long enough to satisfy. On the other hand, being a comedy as well as a sports film indicates to a viewer that they can't rely on too much sports action, but I just felt that the little basketball included in the film just wasn't enough. The jokes that were included in the film were clearly intended to be funny but just seemed to fall flat because of the lack of momentum behind them. They just didn't work well in the film, and it was a bit cringing how badly these jokes actually came out.
Although I hired this film with high hopes, I was left very disappointed at the end. Although it has the potential to be a great film considering its cast, it seems to just travel along very slowly not really going very far at all. The main plot is good, but it just doesn't seem strong enough to warrant a 91 minute movie, and I felt that it did drag, so much so that we switched off halfway through to watch the Amir Khan match, and we weren't overkeen on finishing it afterwards! Ferrell is nowhere as funny as I've seen him, delivering a few laughs but not nearly enough. Benjamin, Harrelson and Tierney do good jobs in their roles but again are grossly underused throughout. I think there was only one scene in which me and my fiance laughed out loud, towards the start and that was pretty much it for laughs for the rest of the film. Disappointing is the only way to describe it.
Written by Scot Armstrong and directed by Kent Alterman. Released in February 2008, runs for 91 minutes and has a 15 certificate. The DVD is available on Amazon for £9.98, although I'd advise you don't waste your money on this, hire it if you really want to see it!
Main Cast: Will Ferrell ... Jackie Moon Woody Harrelson ... Monix André Benjamin ... Clarence 'Coffee' Black DeRay Davis ... Bee Bee Ellis Maura Tierney ... Lynn Andrew Daly ... Dick Pepperfield Will Arnett ... Lou Redwood
Advantages: A few giggles from the commentating duo. Disadvantages: Ferrell is allowed too much rope and hangs himself.
Jackie Moon is the owner coach and player of the Flint Michigan Tropics semi-professional basketball team. He is thrilled when he learns that four teams from the league are going to merge with the NBA, taking them to the big time. The only problem is that the Tropics are the worst team in the league, better known for fighting with other teams than winning matches. Their only hope is to bring in former professional player Monix in the hope that he ... ...of the season. Oh and they have to bring in the crowds too, so Jackie sets about organising some very strange promotions such as jumping over cheerleaders on roller skates and fighting a bear. Silly season has clearly begun…
Ah, the new Will Ferrell [insert sport here] movie. Much as I want to like the guy he's making it increasingly difficult with his showboating performances in formulaic comedies. Part of the problem is that director Kent Alterman ...
afy9mab 01.04.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Semi-Pro (DVD)
Advantages: The cast isn't too bad Disadvantages: The plot is weak and far from original, I didn't find it as funny as other Ferrell movies
- Story - Semi Pro tells the story of Jackie Moon, owner of a basketball team called the Flint Michigan Tropics, who faces having his team be dissolved unless they can win a series of games. He dreams of having his team be a part of the NBA but their track record doesn't make that seem very likely. He has paticularly wild and wacky ways of gaining publicity for himself and for the team by doing unrelated publicity stunts such as wrestling bears and ... ...tactics, making people think that there's very little talent/substance to the team. Can this be changed, can the team last, will they ever make it within reach of the NBA? you'll have to watch the movie to find out. - Thoughts & Opinions - This is a pretty typical over the top and somewhat camp Will Ferrell movie, with a big 1970s feel to it. The plot is nothing new and you can probably guess the outcome pretty easily, its certainly not a movie without ...
IzzyS 15.11.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Semi-Pro (DVD)
Advantages: The supporting cast Disadvantages: Story never goes anywhere really
Take Kingpin, The Mighty Ducks, Dodgeball then add Will Ferrall & Basketball. It doesn't sound like much of a recipe for success? That's because it isn't. This is a movie all about celebrating failure. Not success, failure. This team don't win the league. They don't get promoted into the NBA. The only reason they even win a trophy is they created it in the 1st place. The language is beyond course. The sexual references equally so. This really should ... ...Ferrall as usual isn't funny, it's the minor characters that make this movie. The film drops you into the teams problems pretty deep right from the start of the movie (which is a very bad idea as it'd be a better movie for knowing how they got that bad in the 1st place). This only really gets going once the idea of becoming an NBA team is mooted more than a third of the way into the movie. If I wanted to see a movie about someone who bought his way ...
atytyut2434 14.03.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Semi-Pro (DVD)
Advantages: Found some things quite amusing Disadvantages: Poor ending
Semi-Pro was the last Will Ferrell film I watched and whilst it was neither as good as Step Brothers nor Old School, I thought it wasn't too bad. The story is like so many other films about an underdog sports team - in this case a basketball who will be liquidated if they do not reach the 4th place in the basketball league.
The board of the association seem rather dodgy and repeatedly move the goalposts, or in this case the ring/hoop/net - whatever ... ...Moon has promised to keep the team alive and with the acquisition of a hardened pro called Monix (Woody Harrelson), the team set about moving up the league.
Teams like this normally fall into two categories - alcoholic layabouts or fat / geeky kids striving for a better position in the league, in this film - the former is a fair description of the team. Initially failing to do so as the bunch of losers really can't get it together, they eventually ...
dangaroo 28.12.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Semi-Pro (DVD)
Advantages: Funny in parts Disadvantages: Lacking funny cast and storyline
...Glory and Anchorman, I expected Semi-Pro to be full of dry, but witty, humour. Instead I was met by an average performance by the majority of the cast with a poor story line. Will Ferrell does put in a good performance as lead as a potty mouthed basketball flop out to make it big in the NBA. His foul, but hilarious, jokes and schemes do have you grasping your sides throughout the film but it is by no means his best work to date. With an all but pointless ...
skiddyboy25 01.08.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Semi-Pro (DVD)
Theatrical and extended versions of the film, Six behind-the-scenes feaurettes, Music video: 'Love Me Sexy', Seven deleted and alternate scenes, Flint Tropics Hot Talk with Dick Pepperfield, Theatrical trailer, Teaser trailer
Aspect Ratio
16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Sound
Dolby Digital
Professional reviews
Review
SEMI-PRO scores big laughs with the rowdy play-by-play of hard-luck hoopsters struggling for professional survival (Variety, 07/05/2008)
DVD Description
After lampooning the worlds of ice skating (BLADES OF GLORY) and NASCAR (TALLADEGA NIGHTS), Will Ferrell takes on a new sport with this comedy co-starring Woody Harrelson, Will Arnett, and Andre Benjamin. It's 1976, and Jackie Moon (Ferrell), the owner-coach-player of an American Basketball Association team, must turn his band of ballers from losers to winners.
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