Semi-Profesional: Un equipo de pelotas

i'll be honest there are a few laughs in this film. But do not go to the cinema to see this film, just catch it on TV otherwise you'll come out of the cinema feeling you could have spent your on money on something more useful...like a pen, paper and proceed to write to the production company to let them know that they flaked out with this movie.

Ferrell is funny, its just the rest of the cast that aren't. The jokes throughout aren't particularly great. But i guess it is watchable.

I just hope this formula of sport/comedy film's is either scrapped. If it is used again hopefully someone will do a good job.

I never for a moment believed that this movie would be earth-shattering or mind-blowing. I expected it to be along the lines of "Talladega Nights" or "Kicking & Screaming," and it was. There were a few laugh out loud moments, and a few mildly amusing stretches, and then there were parts that just weren't funny at all.

But the overall experience wasn't that bad, considering I was just looking for a movie that would make me laugh and pass the night away on those rare date nights with my wife.

The only real complaint I had about it was the language. I thought some of the profanity was a bit excessive, especially considering past Will Ferrell movies. And that's really all the R rating is there for.

For the most part, I like Will Ferrell's comedy. I really do. I loved Talladega Nights, to be honest. I laughed throughout the whole thing. I had expected this to be a good bounce-back from Blades of Glory. I prayed that Mr. Ferrell just happened to make a flop and was back to making good movies. I was wrong.

I felt the plot itself was solid--I really like it as a non-comedic movie. But it insists on itself--it just begs to be laughed at. The problem with that is that it insists in all the wrong ways. For example, Shaun of the Dead is one of my all-time favorites, mostly because of the fact that it is a rather serious subject with scenes that could be seen as horrific and yet maintains to be laugh-out-loud hilarious every time I watch it. It insists on being a good movie, not on getting you to laugh at cheap jokes. That's where Semi-Pro went wrong. You have to either be ridiculous with a handful of serious elements (ala The Big Lebowski) or serious with a handful of comedic elements (ala Shaun of the Dead). Semi-Pro doesn't fit into either, because it's not good enough in either one of those categories.

I probably only laughed out loud maybe three or four times throughout the whole movie, and more out of a response to pure nonsense than actual comedic value. Like, "....what?!" rather than a response to pure hilarity. I am reminded of the "I'm on fire!" scene from Talladega Nights--hilarity. Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous--you just couldn't NOT laugh at it. This movie attempts to achieve the same ludicrous hilarity that Talladega Nights had...and fails miserably.

If you're a huge fan of Will Ferrell's comedy, or just Will Ferrell in general, then you may like this. Again, don't get me wrong, it's not a horrible movie, but don't expect anything epic. Unless, of course, you expect an epic fail, in which case you may be pleased.

So overall: decent movie, good storyline, great cast, horrible jokes and even worse comedic value lands it a 5 out of 10.

One of the joys of being a university student is getting invited to free sneak previews. I went to one last night, where the front half of the theater was packed with students while the back was filled with members of the writing team, taking careful notes on which jokes we did and did not laugh at. For the most part, the reaction was positive, and the jokes that failed miserably will probably get edited out by the time the movie officially opens.

The movie was pretty sports-comedy formulaic, with the down-and-out lovable losers getting a big chance, then introducing a new character who will inspire them, and a few montages later, the big finale. The R-rating was used mainly on adding in lots of cuss-words, with mixed humorous results. There was a really funny joke about masturbation. I was hoping for a little more basketball craziness, but oh well.

The highlight, of course, was Will Ferrel meeting the 70s. I myself was not alive in the 70s, so I only know about the culture through the disco-funk lens of caricature cinema. Ferrel is one funky mofo so he thrives. I would say this was one of his better efforts, topping Taladega nights, Elf, and the ice skating one. It's not as good as Anchorman, mainly because it's just not as quotable.

In short, if you like Will Ferrel, or 70s funk (the soundtrack is hella dope), see this movie.

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.