Will Ferrell, like Shaq at the free throw line, is entirely undpredicatable when it comes to making movies. Sometimes, he can land a slam dunk and elevate himself to comic god-like status with movies like Old School and Talladega Nights. Other times, he misses both shots at the free throw line and brings down the whole damn team with atrocities like Kicking and Screaming and Bewitched. Well, taking that whole basketball analogy a bit further, Will Ferrell's latest entry to the sports world, Semi-Pro is a missed opportunity that winds up costing the whole team the last game of the finals. This ultimately makes it a horrible decision for anybody and everybody involved.
The worst part of all this though, is that all this could have been avoided if the cast had had a better script to work with. Instead, obvious lead in jokes often stumble, action scenes clunk along, and Will Ferrell is just left to stand around and scream his fuzzy, little head off. In the end, it's easy to see that the star is using whatever moxie he can to try and not look bored in this unabashedly terrible film.
Given how bad the movie is, it's all the more a shame to find that the story actually has some potential. It's the follow-up lay-up,though that's the problem, and that's what ultimately jumbles this whole movie experience. Will Ferrell stars as Jackie Moon, a disco star in the late 70s whose rise to fame is spearheaded by a ludicrously explicit disco song called "Love Me Sexy." It was this song that made him rich enough to purchase the fictitious Flint Michigan Tropics for reasons that are never quite explained throughout the entirety of the movie.
The problem is that as the current coach, owner, and even player for the team, he's also responsible for the team's future, which is put in jeopardy when the NBA threatens to buy out the ABA in a merger that could possibly close the Tropic's franchise forever. It's up to Will Ferrell to get his losing team to winning status if he wants to save them from impending doom and the inevitable closing of their doors. It's a story that definitely could have worked in the right hands. I mean, Dodgeball worked, and that's almost the exact same story: Underdogs on the verge of losing their territory fight back to hilarious results. Seriously, what could possibly go wrong'
Apparently, everthing as Semi-Pro quickly goes downhill in the very first few moments of the movie. Will Arnett playing a smarmy announcer donning a very 70s' style mustache should work in theory, so why doesn't it'
And Andre Benjamin, who's great in everything he does, also seems to just hang around and do nothing, as his character, Clarence Withers/Coffee Black/and other names that aren't very funny, doesn't have a single smile worthy moment in the entire film. Not a signle one! Hey ya, Hollywood, what the hell are you doing' Andre Benjamin pretty much epitomizes the entire concept of the word fun, so how could you possibly render the Outkast star charmless'
And then there's Woody Harrelson, playing the role of a washed up, love-sick former basketball champion who comes to the aid of the Tropics in their dire time of need. As soon as Woody Harrelson gives his, I-hate-my-current-life scowl and starts kicking in cop car windows, you wonder if anybody on the set actually told him to loosen up as he looks like he just stepped off the wrong sound stage. That's a shame, too, as Harrelson has already proven that he could do basketball dramedy in White Men Can't Jump, but that's also a huge problem with Semi-Pro in the first place-you really can't tell which direction this film is heading in.
Of course, if it has Will Ferrell screaming and making a lot of noise, it has to be a comedy, right' But that's where you'd be wrong as there are just too many dour moments in the film that completely sour the deal. With Woody Harrelson's depressed character, it's obvious that we're not going to get any memorable catch-phrases any time soon, but with Will Ferrell, we expect more; much more. At times, Will Ferrell's character seems just as pathetic as Harrelson's character does, and not to comedic effect as you'd see in other over-the-top Will Ferrell movies that have just the right touch of heart and character to make them classics (see: Elf).
Overall, it's the lack of laughs, good characters, and famous Ferrell-isms that hamper this misguided movie. Semi-Pro is one missed jump shot after another, and that makes you wonder... did anybody even read the script' If so, like Shaq, who has plenty of hours to shoot freethrows and practice, there's no excuse for this movie. It's yet another bad Ferrell film that doesn't live up to the hype of the name printed on the marquee poster. For shame, Will Ferrell, for shame.
|
Semi-Pro (Let's Get Sweaty Edition) - DVD Review
![](http://ak.buy.com/buy_assets/v5/img/clear.gif"){kind=spacer}
