Semi-Pro
Semi-Pro
R | 29 February 2008 (USA)
Semi-Pro Trailers

Jackie Moon is the owner, promoter, coach, and star player of the Flint Michigan Tropics of the American Basketball Association (ABA), the worst team in the league. In 1976 before the ABA collapses, the NBA plans to merge with the best teams of the ABA at the end of the season. Only the top four teams will make the move and the worst teams will fold. If the Tropics want to make it to the NBA, Jackie Moon must rally his team and start winning.

Reviews
GamerTab That was an excellent one.
Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring
Teddie Blake The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
Phillipa Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.
aaronjamesmaximus I can't believe no one here has made a comparison between this and the 1977 movie Slap Shot staring Paul Newman. Anyway I first watched this movie as a kid and loved it for the violence, the weird humor, and what I though was an original story. However; Semi Pro is not original in the slightest it stole everything from a little movie from the 70's called Slap Shot. Semi Pro like Slap Shot has plot which features an underdog team who are going to be disbanded at the end of the season because of their losing streak and poor track record who then decide to start improving their game but also start fights between their rival teams which makes no sense because they were playing basketball not a sport known for it's overly violent behavior between rival players. But i digress, and besides when I first watched it I knew almost nothing about professional basketball. Anyway they get a new player or players and he or they help the team drastically improve their game and consequently also get more fans. Things start to look up for protagonists but then then the coach takes a visit to the team's owner or whatever and finds they team will be disbanded regardless of if they win or not. Then as the cards seem to tipped against them, but things turn around they win the game get the trophy and become a new team. Which is the exact same plot as Slap Shot with some minor differences. Now Semi-Pro may try to add in more humor like fighting a grizzly bear or the team dressing up as fruity sea creatures and other failed attempts at humor. While Slap Shot on the other is a little more subtle with its humor though you'd be hard pressed to call anything in slap shot subtle, though it is when you examine it and it produces some honestly funny moments where most people find themselves laughing and not just spaced out stoners and nimrods who find Dane Cook and that puppet guy funny. In conclusion this movie fooled me as kid, but don't let it fool you it's a cheap ripoff of another infinitely better movie made to make money.
John Harrison Sports entertainment has never been so funny. Semi-Pro written by Scott Armstrong has the same satire comedy that you would expect from any other lead-based acting that Will Ferrell takes place in. Jackie Moon (played by Will Ferrell) is responsible for bringing his struggling franchise back up to relevance both competitively on the court and financially off of it. Joined by fellow actors Woody Harrelson and Andre Benjamin, Jackie Moon starts to incorporate wild and unseen promotions to encourage more fans to visit their games, all awhile the team starts to move up in the standings. Based in the 70's, this is one of the funniest sports comedies that I've ever seen. I would recommend for any sports fan or Will Ferrell fan to see this film.
Chris L First of all, and one may not know that, but the premise of the movie, the merger of the ABA and the NBA, is actually is a real fact. If you are a basketball fan, you will be pleasantly surprised by that side of the story.The 70's universe is very refined: looks, clothes, etc., and a special attention has been given to the soundtrack. Esthetically, Alterman met the challenge.The script is very classic with no real surprise. Everything unfolds smoothly but in a false rhythm that struggles to fully catch the attention of the viewer.The humour is very uneven and most of the gags fall flat. The absurd aspect characterizing Ferrell isn't that noticeable, maybe because he wasn't part of the writing team.
dwpollar 1st watched 7/28/2011 – 3 out of 10(Dir-Kent Alterman): Silly comedy about a fictitious ABA basketball team out of Flint, Michigan and their quest to be merged into the NBA. This merger actually happened in real life back in the 70's but the ABA wasn't considered semi-pro but was equal to the NBA. The movie contains many un-truth's concerning this actual event(but for comedy's sake they get away with it). Will Ferrell, plays the owner, coach, announcer, player, promoter and motivator for the team that isn't doing well statistically or financially. They bring in a new point guard(whom they get in a trade for a washing machine for the Kentucky Colonels), played by Woody Harrelson, who is washed-up as far as a player, but knows the game and eventually takes over the coaching duties. There are funny bits in the movie but they are too few and far-between, and the movie ends up just playing out like a silly cliché-driven underdog sports movie that we've seen too many of. I personally wish they wouldn't have used the ABA because too many of us know the truth's about the league, which wasn't nearly as bad as the movie portrays it being. And please!! – Will Farrell starting on a professional basketball team?? He should have considered getting a little more in shape before taking on this role then maybe we would have believed him in the role a little more. But back to what the movie was supposed to be, a comedy – well, all-in-all the movie just wasn't that funny and therefore I definitely don't recommend it.