I guess Will Ferrell just won’t be satisfied until he’s played every sport for comedic effect. After soccer, car racing and figure skating, Ferrell’s worked his way up to basketball with Semi-Pro, the semi-true story of the ABA’s absorption into the rival NBA in the 1970s. And while its true that four teams were taken in by the NBA, one of them wasn’t, nor was ever going to be, the Flint Tropics, because they did not exist. Gathering together a group assembled from the usual gang of hotshot comedians the Flint Tropics come to hilarious life in a story that says it’s okay to aim for number four.
The year is 1976, and Jackie Moon (Ferrell) has taken the profits made off his hit single “Love Me Sexy” and bet it all by being owner, coach and star forward of the Tropics out of Flint, MI. The Tropics are on the list as one of the teams that will not be absorbed into the NBA at seasons’ end, but a little thing like that is unlikely to dissuade Jackie Moon. So he proposes that the best four teams make the cut, and begins to shore up his team so that they can make a serious run for fourth place or better. He brings former Boston Celtic Monix (Woody Harrelson) to help steer the team, which includes star player “Downtown” later “Coffee Black” Clarence (Andre Benjamin).
The film also stars Will Arnett, Andy Richter, David Koechner, Kristen Wiig, Rob Corddry and for some reason Jackie Earle Haley. They’re all totally dedicated to the on screen insanity, and have actually all worked together enough to get their comedic timing down pat. Overall, Semi-Pro falls somewhere between Anchorman and Talladega Nights on the Ferrell charts; funny but not really revolutionary. The film is saddled by a couple of things, first, there are the trappings of the sports movie genre and second there are the trappings of the Will Ferrell movie genre.
Like any other sports movie, Semi-Pro comes down to a big game where the superstar learns the value of teamwork and the team learns the value playing for personal glory rather than material fulfillment. A last minute inspiration leads to a signature movie that allows the home team to get a leg up on their more talented competitors, in this case the “Alley-Oop”, which according to Semi-Pro came to Jackie Moon in a vision of his dead mother (played by Aretha Franklin). As for Ferrell himself, you can expect the same old: wacky and stupid antics done with the type of fearlessness rarely seen in movie comedy. He gets naked, he sings, he makes an ass of himself, he subjects himself to crotch shots, he’s all over it.
With nothing original, the film itself had better provide the laughs in good measure. Fortunately, Semi-Pro delivers some serious comedic chops and is laugh-out-loud on several non-consecutive occasions. For Ferrell fans this is a definite can’t miss and for comedy fans generally, I think you’re assured a semi-good time to say the least.
