Probably the first thing to observe about the new Will Ferrell comedy is its R rating. This is not the kid-friendly Ferrell of “Elf,” but the happily profane cut-up of “Old School.”
It’s hard to know what’s more obscene: the frequent f-bombs, or Ferrell’s old-school basketball short-shorts. Both are on ample display in this hit-and-miss comedy.
Ferrell plays one Jackie Moon, a one-hit wonder (with the pre-disco hit “Love Me Sexy”) who’s now the owner-player-coach of the Flint Tropics, a failing franchise of the American Basketball Association.
It’s 1976, and the struggling ABA is about to merge with the NBA — but not the Tropics. Not unless they put some fans in the stands, that is.
The film that follows is partly Jackie’s hare-brained promotional stunts, partly conventional underdog-sports-movie cliches, and partly Flint’s newest has-been player (Woody Harrelson) arriving to shake things up.
The movie has a half-dozen or so hilarious sequences, most of them involving Ferrell bellowing at other people. One of the best has a shirtless stoner (“Little Children” Oscar nominee Jackie Earle Haley) attempting to win money by making a shot from across the basketball court. If he doesn’t nod off first. I think I knew that guy in high school.
Ferrell and director Kent Alterman have peopled the movie with talented comedians, which helps the meandering story perk up in spots. Andrew Daly and Will Arnett provide some laughs as the radio play-by-play team for the Tropics, and Rob Corddry (from “The Daily Show”) is tastelessly funny as Harrelson’s biggest fan.
Some subplots look trimmed. Maura Tierney, as Harrelson’s former flame, doesn’t have enough time to get going, and Andy Richter, as a team assistant, looks like he must have had a bigger role in an earlier draft. Andre Benjamin, aka Andre 3000 of OutKast fame, is at least more convincing than he was in “Revolver.”
If you enjoyed the tacky splendor of the ABA, you might appreciate the film more. And it’s great that nobody ever explains why a team from Flint, Mich., is called the Tropics — such is the reality of peregrinating pro sports teams. Or perhaps you haven’t heard of the Utah Jazz.
Despite its early (and, to re-iterate, foul-mouthed) humor, “Semi-Pro” is too scattered and too tied to sports-movie conventions to really explode. At this point, Will Ferrell needs to assert himself and take over a movie again. That rumored “Old School” sequel can’t come soon enough.
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