Semi-Pro Not Even Semi-Funny

Semi-Pro, a comedy set in 1976 that stars Will Ferrell as the owner/coach of and player for a losing professional basketball team, is the cinematic equivalent of an air ball, say critics, who call the film erratic, repetitive, and dull. "If you're on the prowl for a Ferrell yuk-fest, you'd do better renting one of his more successful comedies than spending money on this faux sports dud," writes James Berardinelli of ReelViews.

The problem, says Andrea Chase of Killer Movie Reviews, is "bad writing, imprudent editing, or an unfortunate combination of the two." In addition, Semi-Pro doesn't seem to know what it wants to be—a movie about an underdog sports team or a spoof of one. The movie "tries for semi-sweet when bittersweet would have been better," and "semi-silly when full-bore absurd was called for," writes Roger Moore of the Orlando Sentinel. (More movie review stories.)