Among the throngs of moviegoers out there, no doubt there is a faction of Will Ferrell-haters that have already written off Semi-Pro as garbage. Are you one of those people? If so, you might as well stop reading now. Because I swear to you, I am going to try my damnedest to take this movie seriously.
It won't be easy. While I always find some enjoyment in Ferrell's lovable-idiot characters, "seriousness" is rarely (if ever) one of their strong points. Semi-Pro is no exception on either count; this time, the lovable idiot is Jackie Moon, an entrepreneur of sorts who rose to fame and fortune on the heels of a hit song called "Love Me Sexy." It's this absurd (and yes, funny) anthem that greets us as the film opens and we're launched directly into Moon's strange world of afros and wacky, violent basketball.
The film's primary goal seems to be paying homage to the ABA, a basketball league that is responsible for many of the rules and moves we see in the NBA today. Front and center are the Flint Tropics (yes, of Flint, Michigan), a team with few fans and few wins to its name. With these characters in the spotlight, the film plays a bit like a Friar's Club Roast of the legendary league, as Moon tries to raise funds and draw sell-out crowds by performing musical numbers, doing life-or-death stunts, and engaging in fist-fights with opposing teams during games. When the ABA decides to dissolve, leaving only the 4 most successful teams to merge with the NBA, these tactics really get kicked into high gear, and another teammate joins the Tropics. Monix (played by Woody Harrelson) is set up to be the team's savior, which of course leaves the rest of the Tropics' players (especially "Coffee Black", played by André "3000" Benjamin) with kind of a bad taste in their mouths.
Did I mentioned it's the '70s? Well, I needn't have. One look at the set and costumes of Semi-Pro would be enough to make it crystal clear. But in this film, the era is no mere backdrop. The '70s figure as a major character in Semi-Pro, and why not? It's a comedy, and the '70s are a hilarious decade! What with all that crazy hair and synthetic clothing…the filmmakers clearly took this simple fact and ran with it, making the very decade a sort of running gag in the film. They even went so far as to include an entire scene based around the offensiveness of calling someone a "jive turkey." Oddly enough, this scene was one of the highlights of this film, and did absolutely nothing to advance the plot in any way.
Many similar amusing moments are built more on funny concepts, or even funny words, than on actual jokes. One can almost imagine the writers putting silly words in a box and pulling them out to decide what scene would be next. "This will be the…CORNDOG…scene," they might have read. "The next scene will be about...BARF." And so on. Amusing? Yes. Compelling? Hardly.
All of this adds up to what is quite simply an often funny, occasionally groan-inducing, and totally formulaic sports comedy with an underacheiver-twist. Thinking back on the film, the plot seems ridiculously trite, but the clever comedy veterans of the cast (Will Arnett, Andrew Daly, Andy Richter, Rob Corddry, Jason Sudeikis, David Koechner, Kristen Wiig, the list goes on...even Tim Meadows spends a few minutes on screen!) makes the most of a mediocre situation by conjuring up quite a few really amusing moments that make this film ultimately worth catching.
Unless you hate will Ferrell. Or afros. Or short, short, basketball shorts.
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