SEMI-PRO

"Love me sexy"

When the Commissioner of the ABA (Koechner) announces that they will be merging with the NBA, Flint Tropics owner, coach and player Jackie Moon (Ferrell) thinks his team is about to hit the big time. Unfortunately only four teams from the league will be merging so Jackie and the rest of the owners push that the top four teams at the end of the season will be heading to the NBA. The problem is that the Tropics have only one star player, Clarence 'Coffee' Black (Benjamin), an appalling win record and an empty stadium. With the help of ex-NBA star Monix (Harrelson) and Jackie's unique marketing strategy, Flint is about to see the greatest basketball show of the 70s.

Will Farrell returns to the 1970s and the realm of sports to create another comedic creation but are his over the top screen comedy personas getting a little tiresome?

Since graduating to the silver screen from his illustrious comedy begins on the cult American TV show 'Saturday Night Live', Will Farrell's career has sky rocketed. Hits like 'Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy', 'Old School', 'Blades of Glory' and 'Talladega Nights: The Ballard of Ricky Bobby' highlighted his crazy, manic comedic style but critically acclaimed performances in 'Stranger than Fiction' and 'Melinda & Melinda' have proved that there is more to his talents than some may have thought. The problem that Will Farrell has however, is that his manic, crazy comedy creations are blending into one.

It is becoming increasing impossible to differentiate between the characters he created in 'Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy', 'Old School', 'Blades of Glory' and 'Talladega Nights: The Ballard of Ricky Bobby' and Jackie Moon, the crazy and manic owner/coach/player in 'Semi Pro' is another character to add into the mix. Grabbing the sporting elements of 'Ricky Bobby' and 'Chazz Michael Michaels', throwing in the 70s style of 'Ron Burgundy' and then mixing in the enthusiasm and downright madness of 'Frank Ricard' from Old School, Jackie Moon is just simply an amalgamation of everything he has done before.

It can be argued that Will Farrell is at his comedic best when he appears in movies produced by Judd Apatow and unfortunately 'Semi-Pro' proves this to be right again. Only every managing to raise a smile, the comedy in the movie is extremely predictable and is never inventive or unique. There is this strange feeling of déjà vu throughout as the film throws one gag after the other, missing the laughter mark with most of them. While the movie is not as manic as the Apatow outings of 'Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy' and 'Talladega Nights: The Ballard of Ricky Bobby', this movie does have a little more heart and a feel good factor that makes the movie much more watchable than it should have been.

While 'Semi-Pro' is not Will Farrell's worst movie, it certainly isn't his best. The inclusion of Woody Harrelson and Andre Benjamin in the Farrell fold is welcomed however and stalwarts Andrew Daly, Andy Richter, David Koechner and Will Arnett bring some familiarity but this is the laugh out loud experience that some fans may have been expecting. This makes you think that Will Farrell is off this game and really needs to return to the locker room for a team talk about were his comedic career is going.

Theatrical and Extended version!
6 behind the scenes featurettes
Love Me Sexy Music Video
7 Hilarious deleted and alternate scenes
Flint Tropics hit tale with Dick Pepperfield
Theatrical Trailer
Teaser trailer

Talladega Night: The Ballard of Ricky Bobby

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2008