Review of Semi-Pro (2008) by Chads. — 03 Mar 2008

Jackie Moon(Will Ferrell) steps to the charity stripe and attempts two free throws in an underhanded style that looks like comic schtick(Ferrell, impersonating an effeminate man trying to be butch), but this unorthodox hoist is technically accurate; this was how basketball hall-of-famer Rick Barry actually shot his free-throws.

Jackie Moon seems to be Mark Cuban channeling former disc jockey Rick "Disco Duck" Dees. If the current Dallas Mavericks owner could get pass the NBA bylaws and suit up, believe me, he'd be the team's starting small forward.

"Semi-Pro" lovingly recalls pro basketball in the seventies; both, in its films: "The Fish that Saved Pittsburgh"(starring a post-Rizzo Stockard Channing AND real NBA baller Bernard King) and "Fastbreak"(starring Gabe "Welcome Back, Kotter" Kaplan), and in its actual broadcasts, when an announcer or a colorist were permitted to smoke freely on-camera during a live game without repercussions from anti-smoking advocacy groups.

It's the period detail(a novelty song like "Love Me Sexy" could be a smash hit in the seventies) and respect for ABA history(the ABA had a three-point line when the NBA did not) that almost makes "Semi-Pro" more than the latest Will Ferrell freak show.

Almost, being the operative word. "Semi-Pro" loses its credibility outright as a proper sports movie when Clarence(Andre Benjamin) plays for a second team after halftime. But it should be noted that "Semi-Pro" does strive to be semi-realistic in its presentation of time and place(Flint, Michigan).

Because Ferrell operates in a semblance of the real world, the sometimes heavy-handed dadaist impulses of the former SNL-cast member doesn't chew up the scenery to the detriment of everything and everyone in his path.

Ferrell's trademark buffoonery is in evidence here, but it's underpinned by the economic hardship of a blue collar town. There weren't any bear-wrestling or Evil Kneivel-like derring-do back in the ABA's heyday, but there were tacky promotions to solicit the attention of the NBA-addled fan.

ABA teams would eventually play in front of half-empty arenas before it folded and merged with the National Basketball Association. "Semi-Pro" gets that right. That's why the film works.

There's a pall that hangs over the laughs. Because of the smaller crowd, the inevitable big game doesn't seem too overblown and significant. Victory is inevitable, but the circumstances around the win makes the triumph of the Tropicals appear hollow and bittersweet.

Small-scale emotions for a small-scale sports film that's more serious about comedy than it is about basketball; that's "Semi-Pro", a semi-good comedy about basketball that's actually more believable than a basketball proper film like "Glory Road"(the story of Don Haskins and his all-black 1967 Texas El-Paso national championship team).