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| Available at Amazon.com |
There’s something about being a professional athlete that is fascinating on a number of levels. There’s a reason why any town that isn’t L.A or New York abjectly worships professional athletes as the sort of movie stars a town lacks. Someone like Paul Shirley gains notoriety by existing on the fringes of professional basketball and gains a sizeable audience writing about it because the ability to be a professional athlete on any level is so incredibly difficult to do. So it’s not shocking that Hollywood would be fascinated with the subject either; one could imagine that 90% of the reason why sports movies are so prevalent is because even actors fantasize what it would be like to play in the NBA, NFL, NHL, Major League Soccer or any number of professional sporting leagues. Will Ferrell has had an opportunity to be in a number of sports films, from NASCAR (Talladega Nights) to ice hockey (Blades of Glory), and his quest into comedic shenanigans has a latest conquest: Semi-Pro, a riff back into time with the ABA in the late 1970s.
Ferrell stars as Jackie Moon, owner/player/coach of the Flint Tropics. The ABA is on the verge of being merged with the NBA, and the Tropics are the ABA’s worst franchise. With only four teams making the leap to the NBA, the Tropics are on the verge of being eliminated forever. With a washed up NBA star (Woody Harrelson), a self-absorbed star player (Andre Benjamin) and an assorted cast of characters, Moon has to lead his team out of the gutters. It’s the usual sort of underdog story, except this is a Will Ferrell movie. So of course it’s a complete and total farce, complete with a priest who doubles as a ref (Matt Walsh). And, per the release date, this is going to be Ferrell’s token comedy to begin the year off until his big summer blockbuster Step Brothers.
Presented as a comedy, complete with the sort of blue humor Ferrell is known for, the film is in the second tier of comedies done by the biggest drawing comedian. It’s not in Anchorman territory, or even as good as Blades of Glory was last year. It’s a solid comedy, complete with plenty of good laughs, but unfortunately it’s not the sort of superior comedy it could be. It begins with the humor, which hits about 1/2 of the time. For every joke that works effectively, there are plenty that fail to work. Ferrell is definitely trying to work his best, getting into the sort of low IQ doofus role that has maintained his resume, but the material isn’t consistently good enough that Ferrell’s shtick can’t keep it consistently good. All of his top tier comedies are known for their ability to inspire repeated use of their signature lines. It’s what makes Anchorman a consistently funny comedy; you can quote it endlessly. There’s not a lot of repeatable lines in Semi-Pro, unfortunately, though the moments that work are golden.
The film also has a serious subplot involving Monix and his ex-girlfriend (Maura Tierney) that takes away from the film’s comedic moments. It seems as if it was added on at the last moment to appeal to a broader segment; the film goes from being a total farce to having a dramatic undertone that doesn’t fit the overall theme. It takes away a lot of the vibe and comedic presence established early on.
In the scheme of things, this is a minor film that’ll probably be forgotten in the career of Ferrell.
Presented in a Dolby Digital surround with a widescreen presentation, the film’s gorgeous colors and outlandish style from the time period comes through wonderfully. It’s impressive to look at and hear, as the film’s audio comes through cleanly and clearly through even a decent system.
Presented in both the theatrical release, as well as an unrated “Let’s Get Sweaty” edition, there isn’t much of a difference between the versions of the film. There are a couple scenes of nudity not seen in the theatrical version of it, as well as a bit more profanity scattered throughout, but there isn’t anything that makes it significantly better.
A Digital Copy of the film is included that you can burn onto a PC.
Deleted and Alternate Scenes are included, with an alternate opening and ending as well, and they really don’t add much back into the film.
There’s a Music Video for “Love me Sexy” by Jackie Moon.
Flint Topics Hot Talk with Dick Pepperfield is a recreation of the show from the film.
All three of the film’s Trailers are included.
There are two pieces about the ABA. The first, A Short History of the ABA, focuses on the history of the American Basketball Association. Featuring several former players (including Artis Gilmore and George Gervin), as well as the cast and crew, it focuses on the outlaw style and mentality of the ABA. With archival footage thrown in, it’s interesting to watch and hear about the game and the time period. Re-Creating the ABA focuses on how the cast and crew took what they saw from the time period and wanted to make it look legitimate for the time period and do justice to it. There were a lot of tryouts as well; the extras took part in several months of tryouts and training to make everything look good. There were plenty of professional players to go along with the actors, making it interesting to watch.
“Love me Sexy” –The Story Behind the One Hit Wonder focuses on the song that Ferrell’s character sings in the film. Bringing in Nile Rogers to produce, considering he understood the time period since he made songs in it, the song’s hook came from a table read and Ferrell improvising.
Bill Walton visits the set follows a brief visit to the set by NBA legend Bill Walton as part of a story by ESPN on the film. They show Walton playing briefly and it’s amazing to see how good he still is.
Four Days in Flintis another brief piece on filming in the actual city of Flint, MI. Filming in good weather, they had to use fake snow to make it look like it was winter. It was also wonderful to work there according to the cast and crew.
The Man Behind Semi-Pro is about Scot Armstrong and how he came up with the idea. Ferrell had always wanted to do something like this, and Alterman and Armstrong fleshed out the story to the point that Ferrell listened to their pitch while filming Talladega Nights. The feature then focuses on Alterman and his thoughts on the scope of the film, as well as his fandom of the ABA’s San Antonio Spurs as a kid influencing him to make the film.
Sneak Peeks for New Line theatrical releases of Journey to the Center of the Earth and the current and upcoming DVD releases of Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, Vince Vaughn’s Wild West Comedy Show, Run, Fat Boy, Run, Shoot ‘Em Up, Mama’s Boy, The Bucket List and Rocket Science.
In the pantheon of sports comedies, and Will Ferrell movies, Semi-Pro is a definitive second tier film. It’s definitely funny, and a must for basketball fans, but misses enough to make it a mild recommendation.
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New Line Home Video presents Semi-Pro. Directed by Kent Alterman. Starring Will Ferrell, Andre Benjamin, Woody Harrelson, Jackie Earle Haley. Written by Scot Armstrong. Running time: 100 minutes. Rated R. Released on DVD: June 3, 2008. Available at Amazon.com
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