I suppose the backlash was inevitable, but why now? I mean, prior to his role in “Semi-Pro,” Will Ferrell had starred in three nearly identical sports comedies. Why exactly are people upset that he went ahead and made a fourth? Yes, it is mildly annoying to watch him coast through his career, and, granted, his films are formulaic. However, it’s a formula that works surprisingly well and will continue to work until the day he plays a perpetually nude professional curler in “Thunderbroom: The Saga of Radley Yakavak.”
In “Semi-Pro,” Ferrell plays Jackie Moon, a washed-up disco singer whose one hit (a bizarre Barry White pastiche entitled “Love Me Sexy”) enables him to purchase (as well as manage and play for) the losingest basketball team in ABA history: the Flint Michigan Tropics. Unfortunately, this being 1976, the ABA is quickly facing extinction, and only the four best teams will be able to merge with the NBA. Unwilling to hang up his canary yellow short shorts, Jackie rallies the Tropics by hiring Ed Monix (Woody Harrelson), a troubled NBA vet who may be the team’s only chance at victory.
In recent years, a number of comedies have ditched scripted material in favor of breezy on-set improvisation, and early on “Semi-Pro” seems unhindered by its lack of a concrete storyline. In fact, it thrives on the unpredictable energy of Ferrell and the talented supporting cast (which includes Will Arnett, “MadTV’s” Andrew Daly, Kristen Wiig, Jackie Earle Haley, Tim Meadows and Upright Citizens Brigade co-founder Matt Walsh as a referee/priest). However, as the film progresses, the spontaneous gags give way to obvious pop-cultural references and the anarchic tone of the earlier scenes eventually morph into something far more conventional. It also doesn’t help that the filmmakers decided to give Harrelson an out-of-place dramatic subplot that seems to be haphazardly edited in from another less interesting movie.
Luckily, as a comedy “Semi Pro” is more hit than miss and features a number of potentially classic moments, particularly the scene in which Arnett flies into a near homicidal rage when he’s called a “jive turkey” as well as a gag where Ferrell tries to psyche out his opponents by wearing eyeliner. The film also earns bonus points for being the only sports movie in history where the team’s main objective is to make it into fourth place.
Although “Semi-Pro” never hits the absurd heights of “Anchorman” or “Talladega Nights,” it remains a solid film that is occasionally hilarious and consistently amusing. Besides, what was the last movie you saw where the hero not only karate chops a bear in the neck but also eats a pancake out of a dumpster? Apart from “Atonement,” I’d say never.
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