The Greatest Fro on Earth
Three men, three dreams. It's 1976 in Flint, Michigan. Jackie Moon's American Basketball Association team languishes in last place, with few fans in the seats. Jackie dreams of a merger with the NBA. A tough-minded point guard named Monix is at the end of his career; he's played on the champion Celtics but accepts a trade to Flint to be close to Lynn, the love of his life. Clarence "Coffee" Brown dreams of stardom: he's the Tropics' best player, but he's a hotdog who doesn't value teamwork. When the trio learns that a merger is in the works that won't include the Tropics, they pull the team together to try to achieve the impossible. Can dreams come true in Flint?
Genre(s): Comedy, Sport
Runtime: 91 minutes
Rating: 5.7/10 (22,574 votes)
Release Date: 19 February 2008
Country: USA
Languages: English
Company: Donners' Company
Sound: Dolby Digital, DTS, SDDS
MPAA: Rated R for language and some sexual content.
Director(s): Kent Alterman
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Producer(s):
Michael Aguilar - executive producer
Kent Alterman - executive producer
Cale Boyter - executive producer
Joshua Church - co-producer (as Josh Church)
Toby Emmerich - executive producer
David B. Householter - executive producer (as David Householter)
Jimmy Miller - producer
Lauren Shuler Donner - executive producer
Writer(s):
Scot Armstrong - (written by)
Cast:
Will Ferrell - Jackie Moon
Woody Harrelson - Monix
André Benjamin - Clarence
Maura Tierney - Lynn
Andrew Daly - Dick Pepperfield
Will Arnett - Lou Redwood
Andy Richter - Bobby Dee
David Koechner - Commissioner
Rob Corddry - Kyle
Matt Walsh - Father Pat the Ref
Music: Theodore Shapiro
Michael Aguilar - executive producer
Kent Alterman - executive producer
Cale Boyter - executive producer
Joshua Church - co-producer (as Josh Church)
Toby Emmerich - executive producer
David B. Householter - executive producer (as David Householter)
Jimmy Miller - producer
Lauren Shuler Donner - executive producer
Writer(s):
Scot Armstrong - (written by)
Cast:
Will Ferrell - Jackie Moon
Woody Harrelson - Monix
André Benjamin - Clarence
Maura Tierney - Lynn
Andrew Daly - Dick Pepperfield
Will Arnett - Lou Redwood
Andy Richter - Bobby Dee
David Koechner - Commissioner
Rob Corddry - Kyle
Matt Walsh - Father Pat the Ref
Music: Theodore Shapiro
Posted on: February 16, 2008
September 3rd, 2008
It can be said that any Will Ferrell movie can be summed up by thefollowing Mad Lib: Will Ferrel plays (character name). He plays (sport)and is the best in the world until (problem) causes him to fall fromgrace. Watch as he works back to the top of his game. He even sings(title of a song) and says the line "I will (do somethinguncomfortable) to your face." Watch for a cameo from (other member ofthe frat pack).
As far as the Will Ferrell plays sports genre goes, Simi Pro falls onthe lower end of the scale. This time the sport is basket ball and themovie is set in the 70s to give Ferrel an excuse to have his hair bigand his shorts small. If you loved Blades of Glory and Talladega Nightsthen you will probably have a good idea of what this movie is willingto offer. However, even then you might want to be prepared fordisappointment.
At this point even Ferrell sees to realize that he seems to be makingthe same movie over and over again and wonders whats the point herewhen they could just go watch Talladega Nights again. At least thenFerrell looked dedicated to the character. Even the movie seems toforget that he is the main character every now and then, focusinginstead on Woody Harrelson, who seems to not realize that he is in acomedy, as he pines for an old flame.
Ferrell still says lines that will probably end up on T-shirts, (If Youhave a small child use it as a shield)and is willing to have the camerapointed directly at his crotch, but the movie will probably end up in aBest of Will Ferrell collection a few years down the road and you canwait until then.
September 15th, 2008
Semi Pro's maybe not the best movie of Will Ferrell or even not in histop 5 but believe it or not it worked for me. Yeah it could be betterdirected and produced, it could be funnier or maybe being a basketballrelated movie on the 70's decade, they could invite some pro players ofthe era so it could be more realistic but I think that the moviecouldn't give up for more. The movie has the typical Will Ferrellhumor, with lots of physical comedy and sex jokes, not all the jokesand gags are funny but it has some moments like the one with the bearfight and when they're performing the halftime show that takes you offa real and sincere laugh. The cast is good, Will Ferrell funny asalways although its not his best performance, Woody Harrelson isconvincing enough but I just felt him a little forced, Maura Tierneywas good but not great and Andre Benjamin as Clarence delivers a verygood acting job. In conclusion, this movie only purpose is to entertainand I think he barely accomplishes it. So if you wanna see this movieturn off your brain, relax and enjoy.
September 19th, 2008
There's a point in Will Ferrell's new sports movie—yes, another one inwhich he plays a flabby, goofy guy oblivious to his own monumentaldysfunction—when the comedian achieves pure cinematic brilliance.
I am talking, of course, about the scene in which his crotch isdisplayed—in slow motion, no less—through the slits of his 1970'sbasketball Daisy Dukes.
Okay, so maybe "Semi-Pro" isn't the most clever or original ofFerrell's films. It reaches nowhere near the laugh-out-loud hilarity of"Old School," "Elf," "Anchorman" or "Talladega Nights," but I'd belying if I said it didn't crack me up at least a little bit. While"Semi-Pro" doesn't aim to be much more than it is—an excuse for Ferrellto be more over-the-top and obscene than ever, knee-high socks andcurly afro in all—Ferrell proves that there's still some juice left inthis type of sports film, despite the fact that it contains about asmuch substance as a rice cake.
Ferrell's Jackie Moon is the owner, coach, promoter and star of theFlint Tropics, an underperforming down-market American BasketballAssociation franchise Jackie acquired after his lewd funk song "Love MeSexy" made him a one-hit wonder. But Jackie doesn't know the firstthing about basketball. A self-professed enemy of X's and O's, heinstead focuses on planning crazy promotional events and halftimeentertainment for league games, like free corndog night if his teamscores over 125 points (he has no corndogs) or roller-skating off aramp over eight Tropics cheerleaders. This is where the film has themost fun and separates itself from other run-of-the-mill sportscomedies. Watching Jackie wrestle a bear named Dewey or scream "No!"after a stoned hippie nails a full-court shot for $10,000 proves thatnobody can do loud, dumb humor like Ferrell.
When word gets out that the ABA is planning to merge with the NBA, aninitially exuberant Jackie is told that his team must finish at leastfourth in the league and average 2,000 spectators a game to survive theunion. Desperate to improve, the Tropics trade for the washed up Monix(Woody Harrelson), a former Boston Celtics benchwarmer who whips histeam into shape. Soon, Jackie's team (surprise, surprise) realizes theycan play, and slowly become the darling of Flint, Mich. As a result,the Tropics make a run at the seemingly impossible—fourth place glory.
There are plenty of laughs to be had, mostly at Jackie's expense, butScot Armstrong's script throws up a few lazy, obvious bricks from timeto time. Ferrell doesn't receive the great comedic support he had withVince Vaughn, Steve Carell and John C. Reilly on his best films, andseveral times he comes off as simply trying too hard to be funny.
Harrelson has proved with movies like "White Men Can't Jump" and"Kingpin" that he has legitimate comedy chops, and he fits into thewhole Ferrell universe very nicely. However, as the film goes on, Monixgets more and more bogged down by dramatic subplots—including aromantic angle involving an old flame (Maura Tierney)—that feel veryflat. Having Harrelson and Ferrell play off one another a bit morecould have made for a more memorable film.
Instead of utilizing a tired underdog story with less than subtlehumor, first-time director Kent Alterman could have developed thepremise's potential for ripe satire of professional athletics andfeel-good sports movies. The film is a big dumb mess, and it'sabsolutely content with that.
But "Semi-Pro" has a certain charm to it, undoubtedly enhanced by theR-rating that allows Ferrell to lace his rants with an incredibleamount of curse words. Andrew Daly and Will Arnett are hilarious as theperpetually square Dick Pepperfield and the alcoholic Lou Redwood,providing very funny commentary as the Tropics' radio broadcast team.Jackie Earle Haley is also great in a bit part as a dirty hippie.
Alderman has a great eye for period details, particularly involving thehair, man-scarves and basketball uniforms that perfectly capture a1970s retro vibe.
While "Semi-Pro" doesn't rank at the top of Will Ferrell's comedycanon, there's still some funny stuff here. Just don't expect anythingfresh from Mr. Ferrell on this go-round. Maybe this summer's "StepBrothers" (July 25) will help the comedian regain his versatility.
**.5 out of ****
October 13th, 2008
Semi-Pro
Starring: Will Ferrell, Andre Benjamin, Woody Harrelson, Rob Corddry,Andy Richter, Maura Tierney, David Koechner and Will Arnett
Genre: Comedy
Rated: R
Will Ferrell stars in his fourth sports movie, Semi-Pro. Will Ferrellplays singer Jackie Moon who buys the ABA team, the Flint Tropics fromthe profits of his hit song, "Love Me Sexy". Jackie Moon is a player,owner and coach of the Flint Tropics as well. The ABA Commissioner(David Koechner) announces that the American Basketball Associationwould merge with the NBA (which did happen back in the 1970's in reallife but it's not based off that entirely) but only four teams would goand now Jackie Moon must try to get his team to average over to 2,000fans in order to get his team into the NBA merge with the help ofacquiring Ed Monix (Woody Harrelson). The movie is hilarious eventhough most of it is basically recycled stuff from Will Ferrell's othersports movies and Anchorman. But I would assume that this is WillFerrell's last sports comedy movie since he plays the exact samecharacter as in "Kicking & Screaming", "Talladega Nights" and "Bladesof Glory". I didn't like how the basketball game scene shots were tootight when they could've been a little wider. Pretty hilarious but Idon't think I can see Will Ferrell doing another sports movie.
December 8th, 2008
Very sad; it must be the worst, or nearly so, film I've ever tried towatch – of course I could not possibly sit till the end. "Why chickencrossed the street?". I let you guess the answer. This, taken as ametaphor, will aptly describe this film. Will Farrow probably have noself respect – or, perhaps, he stopped evolving in 5th grade, and heprobably never got any grade above the C. Suffice it to say that I willnever consider watching anything where he is present. Disgusting,tasteless, trash! It is even sadder that some reviewers voted 6 andeven 7 stars. Because of such generosity trash like this is stillbeing, and will continue to be made.