The film features Will Ferrell(Jackie Moon), Woody Harrelson(Monix), Andre Benjamin(Clarence 'Coffee' Black), Maura Tierny(Lynn), Andrew Daly(Dick Pepperfield), Will Arnett(Lou Redwood), and Andy Richter(Bobby Dee). Kent Alterman directed, Scot Armstrong wrote, and Jimmy Miller produced the film(IMDb). Rated-R.
Jackie Moon was originally a singer who had a hit single "Love Me Sexy." The proceeds from the single enabled Jackie Moon to buy a basketball team called the "Tropics" out of Flint, Michigan in the ABA(American Basketball Association). The team sucked, and when the ABA decided to merge with the NBA four teams were to be integrated with the NBA excluding the Tropics and the rest of the ABA. In a league meeting, Jackie Moon being dissatisfied with the terms, persisted that the conditions for entry into the NBA be based on performance, and then begins the race for the prestigious and highly coveted fourth place.
Seeing Will Farrell in 1970's fashion is funny in itself, but the overall movie did make me laugh. The humor in this film may appeal and satisfy the comedic demands of those who appreciate weird humor such as a man biting his hand because his team did not qualify for the NBA. Those who are not really into the sort humor that Will Farrell is known for, may see absolutely nothing funny about that. There was some subtle humor in the movie that went right over the head of movie-watchers, for example, when Jackie Moon walks into the night club with ice packs taped to his knees. Nobody in the theater laughed at that, but basket ball fans may have appreciated that because professional basketball players wrap ice around their knees court-side but never in night clubs presumably.
Potentially, the funniest part in this movie is the jive turkey scene. Besides the obvious careless play with the gun, another funny part of that scene is, Lou Redwood is angry about being called a "jive turkey" rather than a "cock sucker." This scene is classic and movie-watchers responded with incessant laughter. The scene where Jackie Moon fights the bear is also funny, but that scene is beat by the fight scene during the commercial break.
The script is adequate for what the movie intended be, which is a pleasantly stupid movie designed to make people laugh. Although as I walked out of the theater, one young woman mentioned the movie was not funny, the film still had an appeal that Will Farrell fans will appreciate. Now, was this movie funnier than Superbad? No, apparently not. The rhythm of the film was sometimes lost by the subtle humor mentioned earlier, and for this reason its either the audience was laughing really hard or just chuckling at parts that were mildly funny. The casting was great, and the chemistry amongst the actors was awesome, but this movie was simply entertaining, but according Movies.com fans and critics agree, Semi-pro deserves a B-, but I'll give it a C. Stay tuned, movieporium.blogspot.com.
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