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| Matt Willis |
| Semi-Pro USA, 2008 [Kent Alterman] Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, Andr� Benjamin, Will Arnett, Maura Tierney Comedy |
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| 7th August 2008 |
| I�ve had the misfortune of watching some crappy comedies recently, and the fact that Semi-Pro is not the worst says a lot about the current state of American funnymen (and women, if there were any). Because it�s unbelievably bad. Eventually I hope the writers and stars of the genre will learn from their mistakes and produce something with a couple of laughs, but given the length of time it�s taking them I�m not holding my breath.
Will Ferrell movies have never been particularly appetizing to me. His seemingly improvised performances and one-dimensional style have succeeded (Talledega Nights) and failed miserably (Anchorman). It�s not like he�s incapable of being different, see his measured performance in Stranger Than Fiction, it�s that his audience bray only for the silly Ferrell, the one who rambles on like a less-confident Vince Vaughan until you�re practically begging him to stop. A string of sports-themed comedies haven�t helped matters. The terrible yet plucky underdog story had been done to death in the Eighties, when Police Academy rode its bloated corpse through seven terminal outings. Since then though we�ve suffered a stream of mostly bilge, presumably because it is the easiest story in the world to write. You just change the sport and the character�s name and et voila, a brand new movie. It�s no surprise that Ferrell�s best movie, Talledega Nights, utilized that story in reverse. Up to a point anyway. And Sacha Baron Cohen didn�t hurt either. So we have Ferrell as Jackie Moon this time, a well-known entertainer who buys the sucky Flint Tropics basketball team in the (now) defunct American Basketball Association, circa 1976. As owner/coach/power forward he leads mostly through motivation rather than tactics or talent, and yearns for a merger with the more wealthy NBA. When this event appears to be coming true he�s delighted, only to find that the ABA has already decided on the four teams who will join said NBA. And the Tropics ain�t one of them. Jackie�s attempts to win his team a place and save them from dissolution serve as the backdrop of the plot, and a lot of the humour comes from his increasingly outlandish ways of attracting more fans and changing the ABA commissioner�s mind. What I liked most about the film was the historical accuracy, the ABA really did exist till 76� and the four team�s chosen were the Nets, Pacers, Spurs and Nuggets, all now established sides. Beyond that there�s not much to love. The actors besides Ferrell aren�t asked to do much at all, and Woody Harrelson�s channeling of Roy Munson was almost insulting. On the other hand Maura Tierney, presumably brought in to lend some acting gravitas to the role of attractive female lead, should be damn ashamed of herself. Damn damn ashamed. There are few performers out there who can consistently wow audiences utilizing only one solitary character, and Ferrell has long exhausted his mug of goodwill in this department. Semi-Pro therefore performed about as well as expected given this terminal flaw. For next time, try adding some actual jokes, a plot that occasionally dares to surprise,, and a group of people who are doing more than phoning in their performances on a very bad international line in the middle of a storm. |
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