Genres

Visitors Review

2012-05-26 01:31:31

Ferrell really misses the mark on this abysmal film

Semi-Pro is your typical Will Ferrell movie. The movie creates its own universe of 1970s era ABA basketball and fills it with nutty basketball players and flamboyent secondary characters. The movie's best moments are the minor characters and the moments they are given to shine. Semi-Pro perfectly captures the heart of the 70s, unfortunately the movie itself has no heart. Ferrell's Jackie Love is amusing, yet we have no reason to care for him and his quest to finish in fourth place and win a spot in the NBA for the Flynt Tropics.The Flynt Tropics are a joke in the ABA. Jackie Moon, owner, coach, power forward, and singer with a hit single, is ruinning the team. He knows nothing about basketball but excels in absurd promotions. You can see how this is a good set up for laughs, and there are a few there, but the movie lacks a cohesive story, and it starts with Woody Harrelson. Harrelson is a washed up NBA star named Monix brought in to help the team. He takes the coaching reins from Ferrell and develops a relationship with Maura Tierney's character, Lynn. This is the movie's only attempt at establishing a relationship the viewers might care about, yet it is botched completely. How did Monix and Lynn know each other? Why did they break up? Who is Lynn currently living with? Her brother, her boyfriend, her husband. So many parts of the movie made no sense.This is Farrell's worst movie in a long time. While the movie is set in the world of basketball, basketball has nothing to do with the moive. There is no drama related to sports. There is no drama related to the characters. I guess die hard Ferrell fans should watch this movie. It does have an amusing cast of characters, just no story to go along with them.

meangurl 2012-05-25 17:35:20

had me laughing

semi -pro was surprisingly funny, i thought it was just guna be an ok movie but it had a couple hooks that had me dying laughing..i would deff recommend ppl go watch it ..its a good laugh

portnoys_disciple 2012-05-25 01:17:20

And I thought it was actually going to be funny.

For the most part, I like Will Ferrell's comedy. I really do. I lovedTalladega Nights, to be honest. I laughed throughout the whole thing. Ihad expected this to be a good bounce-back from Blades of Glory. Iprayed that Mr. Ferrell just happened to make a flop and was back tomaking good movies. I was wrong.I felt the plot itself was solid--I really like it as a non-comedicmovie. But it insists on itself--it just begs to be laughed at. Theproblem with that is that it insists in all the wrong ways. Forexample, Shaun of the Dead is one of my all-time favorites, mostlybecause of the fact that it is a rather serious subject with scenesthat could be seen as horrific and yet maintains to be laugh-out-loudhilarious every time I watch it. It insists on being a good movie, noton getting you to laugh at cheap jokes. That's where Semi-Pro wentwrong. You have to either be ridiculous with a handful of seriouselements (ala The Big Lebowski) or serious with a handful of comedicelements (ala Shaun of the Dead). Semi-Pro doesn't fit into either,because it's not good enough in either one of those categories.I probably only laughed out loud maybe three or four times throughoutthe whole movie, and more out of a response to pure nonsense thanactual comedic value. Like, "....what?!" rather than a response to purehilarity. I am reminded of the "I'm on fire!" scene from TalladegaNights--hilarity. Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous--you just couldn'tNOT laugh at it. This movie attempts to achieve the same ludicroushilarity that Talladega Nights had...and fails miserably.If you're a huge fan of Will Ferrell's comedy, or just Will Ferrell ingeneral, then you may like this. Again, don't get me wrong, it's not ahorrible movie, but don't expect anything epic. Unless, of course, youexpect an epic fail, in which case you may be pleased.So overall: decent movie, good storyline, great cast, horrible jokesand even worse comedic value lands it a 5 out of 10.

montourxc 2012-05-24 14:30:59

Save Your Money!!!!!!!

I actually had some hope for this movie, i thought they could have donesome good work with this plot. But no, this one was worse thanTalledegah Nights! Will Farrel just taking professions and trying tomake funny movies out of them is getting really old now. I got very fewlaughs out of this movie and when I did laugh it was only a littlechuckle, because I was soon reminded that this movie sucked whenanother failed joke attempt came around. His attempt at witty andsometimes slapstick humor just doesn't work for me anymore. Its alljust gotten old, its the same thing over and over again! This movie wasworthless and I ask you to please stay home and save your money!

retrorocker1980s 2012-05-24 16:31:41

You Like Will Ferrel? Go on ahead and see it then...

This movie hinges on one simple fact: do you or do you not just enjoyWill Ferrel? If the answer to that is yes, then you will enjoy this a lot. Becausethere's not much new doing here: it's Ferell as another idiotic,self-loving, loud and beef-headed, dim-witted professional...insertobscure profession or athlete. This is just "Anchorman", "Ricky Bobby","Blades of Glory", or what have you, except in basketball. If you enjoythose movies, and Will Ferrel's shameless antics (I'm not sayingthey're bad, I'm just saying I want to see him try something else nowand then) then here's one for you.But I also give kudos to the supporting players (like Woody Harrelson,who in a stroke of brilliance, is acting like he's in a real drama andnot a spoof), the inspired 70's soundtracks and references. 6/10

2012-05-24 08:25:21

Double Cross!

This review is from: Semi-Pro (DVD) Ordered this expecting the unrated "Let's Get Sweaty" edition, but when it arrived all I got was the original theatrical version. DO NOT BUY!

2012-05-15 12:34:17

The Worst Movie I've Ever Seen

Let me start by saying that I love bad movies. I appreciate when a film is so unable to be taken seriously that it winds up being funny, or adds to the value of its badness.Then there are movies with huge stars, enormous budgets, and awful stories. These are movies which truly suck. Months ago I thought Spiderman 3 was the worst a movie could get, but it got on its knees and gave the cake to Semi Pro.I enjoy Will Ferrell in Old School, Night at the Roxbury, SNL, etc. But this time he has gone too far. I can't begin to explain the brainlessness of every word spoken in the film. I did not laugh once. My friend fell asleep next to me. I only decided to watch the entire thing so that I could say that it is the worst movie I've ever seen.THERE IS NOTHING REDEEMING ABOUT THIS FILMI recommend this only to people looking to regret watching it, or those looking to find their own personal new Worst Movie Ever.

2012-05-14 18:02:21

So...Funny

I'm not going to waste my time extensively reviewing this movie. If you like Will Ferrell and his movies, you will like this movie. If you don't, why are you here?

Rabi 2012-05-09 09:59:11

Truly A Horrible Movie

When I first saw the commercials while I was at my friend's house, we couldn't help but to laugh. The commercials made the movie look like it was going to be one of the funniest movies of all time. But when it got down to it, it was truly one of the worst movies I had decided to watch.Fifteen minutes into the movie my friends wanted to just leave the screening room and get our money back. It was too late though and I didn't want to feel cheated off of $10.50. So, we stayed and sat through the most dreadful movie created.If it were PG-13 and had a lot of the foul language removed, it would've most likely been a much better movie and would definitely been a much funnier movie.I expected so much more from Will Ferrell, especially in this one since he was really funny in 'Stranger Than Fiction' and 'Anchorman.' The jokes in the movie were awful, the swearing was completely unnecessary, and all of the funny jokes were shown in the commercials and in the 'Old Spice' advertisements.This was truly a complete waste of $10.50 and one and a half hours of my life. If you are going to go watch a movie this weekend, you cannot go wrong with 'Horton Hears A Who.' I haven't seen it yet, but I bet it will be a hundred times better than this hunk of junk.

Liz 2012-05-09 03:47:07

Not bad, not great - like most of Ferrell's recent efforts

I went to this movie with low expectations - I think that helped.I love Will Ferrell - his deadpan moments, his crazy moments, his flatshouting - so will see pretty much anything he does.Unlike Anchorman, this movie suffers from lack of inspiration. The filmitself is pretty much several short films / skits held together by thepremise of an ABA (semi-pro) team's hope to join the NBA.Some of Ferrell's regular cohorts rejoin him - Will Arnett (Blades ofGlory), Andy Richter (Elf), David Koechner (a standout in Anchorman) -and all do good jobs, but no one really shines.The best part of this movie? Andre Benjamin. As an Atlanta girl, I grewup loving Outkast. He proved his acting prowess in Four Brothers, andhe flexes his comedic muscles as the team's star, Coffee Black, andsteals every scene he's in. With his giant afro and '70's funk, he isthe most convincing and likable character in the movie. (With thepossible exception of Dewey the bear.) I'll still see any movie thatWill Ferrell does, but now I'll also see any of Andre Benjamin's. If you like Ferrell or just want a pleasant diversion (it is rated Rfor lots of language), Semi-Pro is worth a look. But be forewarned:this is far more Blades of Glory mediocrity than Anchorman delectablesatire.

jsorenson777 2012-05-05 02:50:23

Ferrel might be a comic genius in France

There are little bits of interesting beginnings to much of this, butall-in-all it doesn't work. The 70's look and the characters all seemedhalf done at best, along with the storyline which seemed unconcernedwith itself.Woody Harrelson was wasted here (possibly in more ways than one) as wasthe girl from ER, seemingly thrown in because of the need for a loveinterest of some sort. They deserve better.The screenplay may have been generated by a computer programmed todeviate "creatively" from boilerplate.If you have nothing else to do and you have money to throw away andthere are no other movies showing, this would still not be a goodchoice.

Scars_Remain 2012-05-04 11:48:23

Pretty Darn Funny if You Ask Me

I hadn't heard much surrounding this movie at all but a friend and Irented it tonight and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm actually prettydisappointed to see that it only has a 5.8 rating on IMDb, but I guesseveryone has different opinions. It's certainly ridiculous and over thetop but i think added to how funny it was. All I know is that I waslaughing pretty hard most of the way through.Will Ferrell is a favorite of mine, i grew up with him on SNL and I'veloved most of his movies. He was just as hilarious as usual in thisone. The rest of the cast was great as well. The story is pretty weakbut it's just random and funny enough to be okay without it. I thoughtthe randomness was amazing.Check this movie out if you're a fan of comedy. It's not amazing but itis a good laugh. Hell, you even get to see Will Ferrell wrestle afreaking bear!

2012-04-30 13:02:44

Will Ferrell...nuff said

This review is from: Semi-Pro [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray) Ferrell is hilarious, period. If you are a Will Ferrell fan buy this movie, great work from a great cast, definitly worth it.

day_andy 2012-04-29 21:28:33

I'm getting tired of saying...

if you like cheap and nasty...Although this movie is entertaining and semi funny,(like my little punI put in there?)it lacks any kind of evidence that anyone put thoughtinto it... another Hollywood movie thats is wrecking Will Ferrell'sreputation.If your looking for a movie to watch when your mentally tired... thisis the perfect pick. There is no thinking involved and you can summonenough energy to laugh at the jokes in it.Andre Benjamin puts in a good performance - never once do you realizehe's acting.I did enjoy this movie - but I was severely disappointed when it cameto my expectations of the movie.Watch this movie when you have nothing better to do and you wont bedisappointed.

h_wilson92 2012-04-28 08:05:03

Funny film

I didn't think this movie was as funny as the other Ferrell moviesaround such as Blades Of Glory,Tallageda Nights and Elf.I went and sawit the day it came in the theaters I did crack up laughing the minutethat Will Ferrell sang at the beginning of the movie.It had a lot ofcoarse language and heaps of sex and sports.I did laugh in some areasbut I didn't laugh in some areas.I didn't see how people cannot likethis movie.It had good songs,comedy,a plot and characters.I gave this 8 stars cos I really liked it.9 or 10 stars is too high foran average movie I liked.I especially enjoyed the raunchy scenes in themovie the most.It is a good movie but I wouldn't hail it as one of thebest Will Ferrell movies.

Larry Poirier 2012-04-27 16:43:47

So funny .. like a little furry bhudda

If you appreciate 70's kitsch, the girls with big hair, the clothes, disco and real tongue-in-cheek humor. I loved Anchor Man, Ricky Bobby, et all.I think is was as good as those. I love this kind of turn-your-brain-off just watch and laugh comedy. The poker playing/gun scene was especially memorable.

SonicStuart 2012-04-27 14:35:24

Hilarious But The Same Stuff

Semi-ProStarring: Will Ferrell, Andre Benjamin, Woody Harrelson, Rob Corddry,Andy Richter, Maura Tierney, David Koechner and Will ArnettGenre: ComedyRated: RWill Ferrell stars in his fourth sports movie, Semi-Pro. Will Ferrellplays singer Jackie Moon who buys the ABA team, the Flint Tropics fromthe profits of his hit song, "Love Me Sexy". Jackie Moon is a player,owner and coach of the Flint Tropics as well. The ABA Commissioner(David Koechner) announces that the American Basketball Associationwould merge with the NBA (which did happen back in the 1970's in reallife but it's not based off that entirely) but only four teams would goand now Jackie Moon must try to get his team to average over to 2,000fans in order to get his team into the NBA merge with the help ofacquiring Ed Monix (Woody Harrelson). The movie is hilarious eventhough most of it is basically recycled stuff from Will Ferrell's othersports movies and Anchorman. But I would assume that this is WillFerrell's last sports comedy movie since he plays the exact samecharacter as in "Kicking & Screaming", "Talladega Nights" and "Bladesof Glory". I didn't like how the basketball game scene shots were tootight when they could've been a little wider. Pretty hilarious but Idon't think I can see Will Ferrell doing another sports movie.

2012-04-26 16:49:41

A Rare Miss for Will

Will Ferrell launched a 3-pointer, and missed with Semi-Pro. The trailer for this movie actually looked great and I was very excited to see it.... but the movie was slow, and unappealing for the most part. Like all Will Ferrell movies, it had some fantastic moments. A couple of "LOL" moments, but overall, the movie was pretty bad. It's funny, because I hadn't seen a Will Ferrell movie I didn't like, so I watched it again 2 days later to make sure I wasn't missing something! Sadly, I liked it even less the 2nd time. :(

2012-04-25 10:31:25

Half-way there... Yeah, at least the name's right!

Just finished seeing this movie. Have to say this - Will Ferrell kinda disappoints with this. Seeing his track record (remember Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Elf?!), it's clear he's put in effort for this feel-good sport-theme based movie, but at times he's gone over the top.The story revolves around a small-time basketball team, who's happy to be just that - small-time. Till, they are made to realize they want to be part of NBA and play some "real basketball". The story is almost believable, and one can appreciate the feeling that the movie exudes. However, some so-called funny scenes are really unnecessary and some are outright crap! (I'll admit the reason for such crappy scenes might be that I was watching the unrated version.)His promotion tactics are almost hilarious but never quite there. The costume dance, the eye-liner, the bear-fight - all are painfully but strictly not-funny. The euphoria towards the end seemed to me to be the best part of this movie.Watch it - if you're really into Ferrell. The rest of the elements are almost peripheral.2 out of 5 - only because it has some good laughs, though Ferrell's made me have better.

2012-04-24 21:42:03

a waste of everyone's time

There are some interesting actors in this. There must be interesting people watching this that wasted their time just like me on this. I love Will Ferrell but not this thing.