In the summer of 2004, Will Ferrell (Blades of Glory) introduced America to the arrogant yet loveable Ron Burgundy, in what would prove to become one of the most quotable comedies of the decade.
Now, almost four years and a handful of mediocre movies later, Ferrell graces the big screen once more with Semi-Pro, an all too familiar underdog sports comedy that fails to offer anything new to the genre.
Semi-Pro chronicles the journey of a misfit basketball team, the Flint Tropics, and their owner/coach/player/pop-music-sensation Jackie Moon (Ferrell), as they struggle to prove that they have what it takes to compete in the NBA.
Enlisting the help of NBA benchwarmer Monix (Woody Harrelson, Sleepwalking), the Tropics begin to focus less on flashy costumes and elaborate halftime shows and more on the "X's and O's" as they begin their ascent out of last place and into the coveted fourth place position.
While certainly not the best that Ferrell has offered, Semi-Pro is an improvement on his previous two films of a similar fashion, Talladega Nights (2006) and Blades of Glory (2007), all of which are engineered using the same formulaic structure.
Semi-Pro details the story of a conceited, raucous celebrity protagonist played by Ferrell and his eventual downfall and rise back to stardom. While this construction succeeded in Anchorman, it has become tiresome and repetitive in the recycled successors.
Ferrell's performance itself isn't particularly poor, but simply unoriginal. Any of the distinct over-the-top antics and self-glorifying dialogue that have defined his comedic style over the years is still present and still generates modest laughs.
Despite the effort, the viewer can't help but feel as though they've been there before; what used to be roaring laughter is now reduced to mere chuckles.
Seeing Ferrell's amorphous stomach and inhumanely hairy bare chest was funny the first couple times around, but it has lost its shock value by now.
Perhaps the most redeeming quality of the film is the support from the reliable Harrelson and Will Arnett (The Brothers Solomon) as Lou Redwood, the wisecracking temperamental announcer for the Tropics.
One of the funniest scenes in the film, a poker game gone wrong, can be attributed to Arnett's unique humor, reminiscent of his performance as the magician Gob in Arrested Development.
Bantering between Arnett and Andrew Daly (Reno 911!) as announcers Redwood and Dick Pepperfield fuel much of the film's humor, an obvious throwback to Dodgeball (2004), a similar sports spoof.
Harrelson does a decent job playing a washed-up pro in a crowd of misfits. Some of the awkwardly funny scenes are based around his affair with Lynn (Maura Tierney, The Go-Getter) and the surprising approval of her husband (Rob Corddry, The Heartbreak Kid).
Harrelson and Ferrell have an oddly impressive chemistry on screen, as exhibited in a rather unorthodox pep talk ending with Harrelson delivering a punch to Ferrell's jejunum.
Unlike its predecessors, Semi-Pro brandishes an R rating, allowing a more liberal use of profanity and the inclusion of scenes that would normally be reserved for the unrated DVD, including scenes of blatant swearing (similar to Ferrell's "meatloaf" dialogue in Wedding Crashers) showcase the actors' regained freedom.
The influx of F-bombs and vulgar jokes do help to offset the predictability of the dialogue and provide more laugh-out-loud moments, but it didn't make an appreciable difference on the film as a whole.
Despite its predictability and repetitive nature, Semi-Pro does deliver quite a few laughs. It is a film that momentarily entertains but fails to create a lasting impression. While some jokes prove to be semi-hilarious, none of them are as quotable, or as memorable as what Ferrell delivered in Anchorman, making Semi-Pro just another tiresome addition to Ferrell's "bio-spoof" repertoire.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
