Thanks for checking out our Semi Pro Review!
The General Idea
Plot synopsis from IMDB: Jackie Moon, the owner-coach-player of the American Basketball Association’s Flint Michigan Tropics, rallies his teammates to make their NBA dreams come true
The Good
Tim Meadows isn’t in Semi Pro much, but the strongest scene in the film features him and this is no accident. He is an outstanding comedic performer with amazing timing and when he is on the screen – laughter happens. It was great to see him and Will working together again and I certainly hope for more team ups in the future.
The sports commentators in this film Dick Pepperfield (Andrew Daly) and Lou Redwood (Will Arnett) have quite a bit of dialogue both on and off the court. You would think that the movie would have suffered for it, but the opposite was true. When either of these characters are on the screen, the film is funny and enjoyable. Arnett and Daly had fantastic chemistry and they both fit their characters like a glove. To be honest, if Semi Pro was a film about sports commentators and focused on these two; the movie would have been much, much better. These characters were the pillars holding the film together and without them it would have been a total write off.
Jackie Moon surprisingly does not have a lot of stand alone screen time. We do not get many solo moments with Jackie so we don’t learn much about him, and it’s just as well; the character is forgettable and I would argue the worst Will Ferrell incarnation to date. He was a profane man however and it made for some hilarious moments. Will usually keeps the language fairly clean so it was a bit shocking to see him slinging f-bombs in peoples’ faces. The audience always laughed when he got crass and it was a nice surprise. I just wish this card would have been used with a better character, in a better film
The Bad
Monix (Woody Harrelson) plays the hero of this film and is also the love interest in a bullshit romantic sub-plot. The film is more about Monix than Jakie Moon, which could have been fine – if Monix was humorous. When a focus character isn’t funny in a comedy; something has gone horribly wrong. Woody was great in Kingpin and it’s a shame that Semi Pro ignored and his comedic ability. Monixr was a flat out buzzkill and every time he is on the screen – the film becomes lameland.
The story for this film sucked, It was formulaic, unfunny and spent time trying to provide life lessons in a glossed over, piss-poor manner. Some scenes were quite funny and that will happen when you have a cast like this; but the overall story still needs to be humorous – this was not the case with Semi Pro. This film was the bastard son of a shitty sports film and a mediocre comedy. With the talent they had on board, it’s a god damn shame this film was anything less than outstanding.
Overall
With the little that these actors had to work with, they still managed to get some pretty decent laughs, and some scenes were great. It is for a handful of scenes that I will recommend this film. Andrew Daly And Will Arnett are largely responsible for tipping the scale and they should be proud of what they accomplished. This is my least favorite Wil Ferrell comedy to date, so it has the distinction of being #1 on that list. Out of 10 I will give Semi Pro a 5 and if you are not chopping at the bit to see it; wait for the rental.
