Semi-charmed

Will Ferrell's usual frat guy schtick falls flat in sports parody

By: Dan Hubsher

Posted: 2/29/08

Semi-Pro

Two out of Five Stars

Starring: Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson and Andre Benjamin

Somehow, Will Ferrell has managed to play the same character over and over again without becoming stale - until now.

Mind you, I'll see almost anything with the Frat Pack's resident party guy. And judging by box office sales, it seems most movie-going audiences agree. Though you have to wonder if Ferrell gets bored playing the same character with different hair every time.

In "Semi-Pro," he stars as Jackie Moon, the bumbling, afro-sporting owner, player and coach of the American Basketball Association's Flint Tropics. With revenues and fans quickly disappearing, the laughable Tropics are forced to become a legitimate basketball team or face dissolution when the league merges with the NBA. Moon, once a former pop singer who became a one-hit-wonder with his single "Love Me Sexy," plans to lead his ragtag squad to glory.

The biggest challenge "Semi-Pro" faces is it will be compared to every other Ferrell comedy. And this film can't stand up to titans like "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" and "Old School."

If anything, this can be considered a poor man's version of any of those classic quote-fests. The audience never gets to settle into the movie and enjoy the characters - typically the best part of Ferrell movies. Instead, the story just flies from scene to scene, as if they were in a rush to finish it.

The biggest question of course is: where does Moon fit in the pantheon of Ferrell characters? Nowhere near the upper echelons reserved for Burgundy and Frank the Tank, that's for sure.

The rest of the cast doesn't add much to the film. At times, it seems like the roles of the film's two other billed stars, Woody Harrelson and Outcast's Andre Benjamin, would have been better filled by fellow Frat Pack members like Paul Rudd and Justin Long.

On the flip side, Will Arnett and Andrew Daly do a wonderful job of keeping the movie interesting as the Tropics' color commentators. Also be on the lookout for enjoyable cameos by Tim Meadows, Kristen Wiig, Ed Helms and R&B star Patti LaBelle.

Like any of his movies, you'll get a fair share of memorable Ferrell quotes from "Semi-Pro," but that's about it. If you've been itching to see men run around in criminally short shorts with impossibly awesome afros, then this is the movie for you. Otherwise, it's not a strong showing from the Man Who Was Burgundy, but whose act since then seems to be growing sour.

djhubshe@syr.edu