Semi-Pro

After learning that only the top four teams will be absorbed in the coming merger with the NBA, an ABA owner-coach-player (Will Ferrell) rallies his team to make the cut.

Semi-Pro is a Will Ferrell movie in the mold of Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, or Blades of Glory. If you liked those films you’ll certainly enjoy Semi-Pro, which, while it’s not quite as good as the two former films, is certainly better than the latter.

Ferrell does his usual man-child act, but fortunately doesn’t have to carry the movie on his own. Woody Harrelson, André Benjamin, and Maura Tierney round out a solid supporting cast that keeps things moving well enough when Ferrell’s off screen, and Will Arnett and Andrew Daly deserve special mention as a dynamite team of commentators, with Daly playing a perfect straight-man to both Arnett and Ferrell.

Indeed, Semi-Pro’s weakest link lies in first-time director Kent Alterman. While it’s clear the dark, muted photography was meant as an homage to ’70s filmmaking, it ends up giving the film a cheap, drab feel that’s out of place in a comedy such as this. Further, the film does drag a bit at times, a problem a few minutes of editing could easily have resolved.