This is a surprisingly good Will Ferrell movie. It’s probably due to the fact that it was released in 2008, but it actually seems like they put effort into creating a story, instead of just dropping Will Ferrell in a C-list cast and thinking that was enough.
Semi-Pro is a comedy released in 2008 starring Will Ferrell as Jackie Moon, the owner, player, and coach of the Flint Tropics, a team home to the American Basketball Association. Once the league decides it will be merging with the NBA, Jackie makes a proposal to the board that the four highest finishing teams in the ABA should become NBA franchises. He makes this proposal even while the Flint Tropics, his team, are one of the lowest achieving teams in the league. The proposal is accepted and the race is on. When Jackie trades his team’s washing machine for washed up NBA champ Ed Monix (Woody Harrelson), things start to change. Ed steps in to share his basketball knowledge to the Tropics’ previous freelance offense style to try and better the team. Their chance of climbing the rankings to the top four is small, but with Jackie Moon putting his best foot forward in promoting the games, there’s could be a different prize at the end of the season.
The Pros
The writing. There aren’t many Will Ferrell movies other than Old School, Step Brothers, and the Anchorman series that have this level of great writing. Semi-Pro was released during this golden age of Will Ferrell classics, so it’s not a huge surprise the writing is so good. The scenes that showcase this writing would be the poker table scene, the alley oop scene, and the “somebody hit somebody!” scene. The lines coupled with the story created a really entertaining movie that was super funny.
There was an amazing spread of funny characters to follow in this one. The Flint Tropics announcing crew (Andy Daly as Dick Pepperfield and Will Arnett as Lou Redwood) were hysterical; Jackie Moon; Even Father Pat (Matt Walsh) at times; When a comedy, and especially in this case since it’s a Will Ferrell comedy, has a group of characters that compliment the main character and carry the comedy, it’s a beautiful production. Dick Pepperfield and Lou were definitely my favorite two characters from this one. They were a great addition to the casting and story, with tons of jokes dispersed throughout their lines.
The Cons
As for The Cons it’s an easy one. This movie felt silly at times. I know that’s what I’m paying for when I turn on a screwball comedy, but sometimes it’s hard to bear. It wasn’t terribly bad in this one but it was hard to miss. I felt like they could have skipped some of the team conflict like when they were on the bus, because if the movie is going to be silly, it doesn’t need to check the boxes of a drama per say.
Semi-Pro: a Will Ferrell movie that’s surprisingly good. The Score is a 75.