Semi-Pro (2008)

Director:

Kent Alterman

Writer (WGA):

Scot Armstrong (written by)

Release Date:

29 February 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Sport

Tagline:

The Greatest Fro on Earth

Plot:

Jackie Moon, the owner-coach-player of the American Basketball Association's Flint Michigan Tropics, rallies his teammates to make their NBA dreams come true

Plot Keywords:

Basketball | Nba | Merger | Team | Michigan

Awards:

1 win & 4 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sat. Nov. 14

9:00 AM

MAX

Cast

Will Ferrell	...	Jackie Moon
Woody Harrelson	...	Monix
André Benjamin	...	Clarence
Maura Tierney	...	Lynn
Andrew Daly	...	Dick Pepperfield
Will Arnett	...	Lou Redwood
Andy Richter	...	Bobby Dee
David Koechner	...	Commissioner
Rob Corddry	...	Kyle
Matt Walsh	...	Father Pat the Ref
Jackie Earle Haley	...	Dukes
DeRay Davis	...	Bee Bee Ellis
Josh Braaten	...	Twiggy Munson
Jay Phillips	...	Scootsie Double Day
Peter Cornell	...	Vakidis

Also Known As:

Çaylak profesyonel (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
O ashet-ball (Greece) [el]
Semi-Pro - El amateur (Argentina) (DVD title) [es]

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some sexual content.

Runtime:

91 min | 98 min (unrated DVD version) | 99 min (unrated version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS | SDDS

Certification:

Ireland:15A | UK:15 | Australia:M | USA:R (certificate #43605) | Singapore:M18 | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Singapore:NC-16 (edited for re-rating) | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | Sweden:7 | Japan:PG-12 | Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

Flint, Michigan, USA

Company:

Donners' Company

Trivia:

Lou Redwood threatens Cornelius Blanks with a Smith & Wesson Model 19 revolver, with a 4-inch barrel. It was commonly issued to police officers in the 1970s, and is still carried by some. Like most .357 revolvers, it can fire .357 or .38 and .38+P rounds.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Although the movie is set in the 1970s, many people in the crowd at various games are wearing current fashions, like hipster jeans and contemporary sports jerseys. This is most noticeable when the bear escapes and everyone in the crowd rushes to exit the stadium.

Quotes:

Jackie Moon: Suck my cock! I'll kill your family!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "HBO First Look: Semi-Pro (#15.3)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Funky Stuff

Semi-funny

Figured the holiday was a great time to catch this movie, which I wasn't overly excited about, but thought it would be something to do on a lazy afternoon.

Got to the cinema a tad early and sat down and played some golf on my phone. About 10 mins in and I was the only one there. Awesome. Sadly about 5mins later two losers with no friends walked in, making it a cosy cinema of 3.

The film starts with a pre-game intro of the Flint Tropics, a struggling team in the former ABA basketball league. We learn from the get go that Jackie Moon (Ferrell, in a role not much of a stretch for him) is the team owner, promoter, coach as well as a player. Jackie brought the team on the back of his one-hit wonder "Love Me Sexy" and is in it just for the fame and fun. Before too long Jackie finds out his team will absorbed by the ABA-NBA merger...unless he can get them in the Top 4 teams. Jackie goes out and signs (from a trade for a washing machine) Monix, played by formerly good actor Woody Harrelson in a minor attempt to tun things around. Soon he makes some other changes, such as agreeing to let Monix become coach to get his team into the NBA. Will it work......? See it to find out.

There's some more good quirky Ferrell humour, but this isn't a classic. The story had a lot more potential but in some circumstances went too oddball and weird and missed some good opportunities, probably largely due to the extra screen time given to Ferrell. Give him a few better support comedians and this could have been a classic. They missed some great opportunities with the basketball action too. One of the early scenes was gold.....but then after that very little was paid attention to.