SEMI-PRO (2008)

SEMI-PRO
**½
Rating: R
Length: 90 minutes
Director: Kent Alterman
Writer: Scot Armstrong (Road Trip; Old School)
Starring: Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, Andre Benjamin, Maura Tierney, Will Arnett, Andy Richter, David Koechner, Jackie Earle Haley

I like Will Ferrell because I know I can watch one of his movies and I’ll laugh. He’s essentially created a new genre called “the Will Ferrell Sports Comedy”. Instead of an egotistical figure skater or an egotistical NASCAR driver, he’s an egotistical minor league basketball player. His character, Jackie Moon, also owns and coaches the team. The “show” is more important than the games and his team, the Flint Michigan Tropics, don’t win too many games. Though when a proposal is made that the top four teams in the minors will merge with the NBA, Moon brings on “star” player Monix (Woody Harrelson- brilliant here). Everyone’s ego has to take a backseat as they learn to play as a team. Nothing new plot wise, of course, and really nothing new period. Like the rest of his movies (you know except “Winter Passing”), Ferrell made me laugh, but it seems like he’s getting a little lazy. The effort that was put into “Anchorman” and “Talladega Nights” seems to have been dropping off (I liked “Blades of Glory”, but did it hold up against either of those?). Harrelson- despite his early sitcom career- is a seriously underrated comedian, but the rest of the supporting cast doesn’t add as much as Ferrell’s prior castmates. There’s no Steve Carrell, Paul Rudd, John C. Reilly, or Sacha Baron Cohen here. Instead there’s Andre 3000 from Outkast and Jackie Earle Haley (? - so much for that Oscar nod re-launching that career). Will Arnett, Andy Richter, and David Koechner all put in slightly glorified cameos, but there’s too much of the movie that rests on Will Ferrell. He can carry a movie and, don’t get me wrong, if you like his movies you’ll like this. However, it seems like it might be time to try something new for a change. You can still get laughs from the same joke, but eventually it'll wear thin. It might be getting near that time.

Download Soundtrack MP3s:
Will Ferrell- Love Me Sexy
Brothers Johnson- Get the Funk Out Ma’ Face

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