Semi-Pro Reviews

For the people not involved in basketball Semi-Pro can be seen as a bad comedy, for the other is a mockumentary about the last days of ABA, American Basketball Association, before the merge with NBA, the team is slightly based on Virginia Squires and Ferrell's character mimic the great Rick Barry, everybody knows the weird style of Barry free-throw, and it's untouched record of 99.3%.
Why NBA try to constrict ABA :

1) Three point shot, only ABA had and it was copywrited, still today on All Star Game 3Point Contest the last ball, that worth double, on each field zones is a three colors ABA basketball.
2) Indiana Pacers, the state where basketball is a religion more than a simple sport had only a pro team...and it's an ABA team
3) San Antonio Spurs, founded in Dallas as Chapparals the relocated in SA, the Lone Star state had only a big franchise, and they're still a big franchise, Dallas waited until 1980 for the Mavericks.
4) New York Nets, later New Jersey latest Brooklyn, even Knicks was a big East NBA team, seconds to Celtics obvious, the Nets was the biggest team in ABA, 2 winning championships and first overall in selling tickets, and they got Doctor J...
5) Denver Nuggets, NBA wants to expand in the west, and surely Colorado was a good point, the other location was San Diego, but they hadn't financial strenght, as today...in 1978 they got the franchise from Buffalo Braves, changing the name in Clippers, after 6 years they relocated to LA...like Chargers, but they lasted more.
6) Kentucky Colonels, the Louisville team had financial strenght, a solid fan base, cable TVs, and a renewed Arena, why nobody remember the Colonels, ABA champ in 1975, the answer : Artis Gilmore
And that's why I don't like Bulls...Artis was the most dominant player in Center position in entire world, nobody can't stop him, Chicago wanted Gilmore, they promised him big amount of money, no Salary Cap in that era, so the Bulls put the veto on Colonels NBA join, the God of the orangeskinned ball punished them both, Bulls never won with Gilmore, Artis finished his career in my hometown team, I got his shirt...

Anyway Semi-Pro is good movie for basket fans, Harrelson over all, sometimes his character seems a clone of Hondo Havlicek, but this is a movie about basketball, so he's simply perfect !
Another perfect character is Vakidis by Peter Vasilevich Cornell, the name is for a baltic player, but the spirit is surely of the sovietic super center Vladimir Tkačenko, the first 7'4" at 76 Montreal Olympic in the Red Army of Marshall Gomelsky. For the numbers : Cornell was a pro-player and he's 7'...
A little to airy André Benjamin, his acting is similar to a modern pro, the movie lives in 1976, black athletes were extremely angry and politicized, anyway we must agree he's mainly a singer.

So, you try to have a different point of view on this movie, both on Will Farrell, here without his jazz flute, and the Chicago Bulls...
I didin't copy this piece, it's not a news item, it's just about conversations that I had with Artis, Mike D'Antoni and George Gervin.

"Semi-Pro" is nothing like Will Ferrell's other films. It is not nearly as good as "Elf", or "Stranger Than Fiction". The reason I say that is because it was very corny and unfunny at many moments. Will Ferrel's performance was not nearly as good as it could have been. It felt like the director tried a bit to hard to be funny. Other than that, the film was very good.

The story revolves around a semi-pro basketball team. They are one of the worst in the league but are still trying to get into the NBA. The team is ran by the main player "Jackie Moon" (Will Ferrell). His motives are not what you would say top notch, so They hire a new guy and try several other things to become NBA Material. It eventually works after going through hilarious processes.

The film's plot is a very basic concept with some flaws here and there. I would say it is worth watching for the most part.

"It's like the Titanic but with bears!"

Of course, whenever Will Ferrell is thrown into a comedy there's always a guarantee that there'll be at least a few decent laughs. I guess I was hoping for another Anchorman or Talladega Nights when I walked into this one...and ended up walking out of the cinema feeling quite dissatisfied.

First of all, the film is only mildly funny. I was hoping for a bunch of great laughs but there are very few to be experienced here. There was a lot more foul language and profanity than Ferrell's usual movies, but it's a shame they only focused on using language rather than making the dialogue at all witty.

Second of all, the film is highly predictable. Despite the ending being unconventional the rest of the film was filled with gags that could be predicted before they happen.

Will Ferrell is hit singer Jackie Moon who owns a basketball team that he is also coach of, not to mention he's also a player. A group of basketball teams are given the chance to qualify for the NBA depending on their performance during the season. Subsequently, Jackie rounds up his team-mates (prominently made up of black people) who aim to make their NBA dreams come true.

Despite the laughs being a rarity, the funny gags were rather worth it. Ferrell wasn't doing his usual overacting for the most part, which was an interesting change of scenery. He relied more on dialogue rather than being overzealous. He had a few good lines...but nothing major that was too redeeming in this somewhat mediocre comedy.

Face it, Semi-Pro is a film that you begin watching with the mild expectation of just being entertained. It's a Will Ferrell comedy, not The Godfather. I guess it's only for die-hard fans of these types of disappointing, albeit entertaining comedy features. Watch it with your mates, and you'll probably find yourselves quoting the film for the next few weeks. Like I said, there are a limited number of laughs...but the laughs we do have are somewhat satisfying.