Semi-Pro
Semi-Pro
Semi-Pro
Directed by Kent Alterman (R)
Will Ferrell attempts to save an American Basketball Association franchise.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
???
Semi-Pro “misses the hoop, the backboard, and the point,” said Kyle Smith in the New York Post. In this spoof of 1970s basketball, Will Ferrell plays Jackie Moon, a one-hit wonder who uses his music royalties to buy a struggling franchise in the doomed American Basketball Association, the Flint Tropics. As the team’s player/coach/promoter—basically Anchorman’s Ron Burgundy “with a ’fro”—Ferrell follows one ludicrous joke with another. He tries to “strangle the laughs” out of such low concepts as wrestling a grizzly, but eventually drops the ball. Semi-Pro “is a mess, but it’s a likable one,” said Kirk Honeycutt in The Hollywood Reporter. While screenwriter Scot Armstrong fared better with Old School, he sustains this lowbrow comedy by capturing the quirks of the ’70s and the underdog spirit of the ABA. The film “looks, sounds, and feels like something preserved in a time capsule from the polyester era,” said Joe Leydon in Variety. Ferrell puts on the “full-court press” by not holding back, and together with team players Will Arnett, Andy Richter, and Woody Harrelson, he scores just enough laughs.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
'HBCUs have always had to think more strategically'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Media: Warner Bros. kicks cable to the curb
Feature Warner Bros. Discovery is splitting into two companies as the cable industry continues to decline
-
8 recipes that require minimal effort for the best kind of summer eating
The Week Recommends It's the season of grilling and smart desserts