I can't believe no one here has made a comparison between this and the 1977 movie Slap Shot staring Paul Newman. Anyway I first watched this movie as a kid and loved it for the violence, the weird humor, and what I though was an original story. However; Semi Pro is not original in the slightest it stole everything from a little movie from the 70's called Slap Shot. Semi Pro like Slap Shot has plot which features an underdog team who are going to be disbanded at the end of the season because of their losing streak and poor track record who then decide to start improving their game but also start fights between their rival teams which makes no sense because they were playing basketball not a sport known for it's overly violent behavior between rival players. But i digress, and besides when I first watched it I knew almost nothing about professional basketball. Anyway they get a new player or players and he or they help the team drastically improve their game and consequently also get more fans. Things start to look up for protagonists but then then the coach takes a visit to the team's owner or whatever and finds they team will be disbanded regardless of if they win or not. Then as the cards seem to tipped against them, but things turn around they win the game get the trophy and become a new team. Which is the exact same plot as Slap Shot with some minor differences. Now Semi-Pro may try to add in more humor like fighting a grizzly bear or the team dressing up as fruity sea creatures and other failed attempts at humor. While Slap Shot on the other is a little more subtle with its humor though you'd be hard pressed to call anything in slap shot subtle, though it is when you examine it and it produces some honestly funny moments where most people find themselves laughing and not just spaced out stoners and nimrods who find Dane Cook and that puppet guy funny. In conclusion this movie fooled me as kid, but don't let it fool you it's a cheap ripoff of another infinitely better movie made to make money.

Sports entertainment has never been so funny. Semi-Pro written by Scott Armstrong has the same satire comedy that you would expect from any other lead-based acting that Will Ferrell takes place in. Jackie Moon (played by Will Ferrell) is responsible for bringing his struggling franchise back up to relevance both competitively on the court and financially off of it. Joined by fellow actors Woody Harrelson and Andre Benjamin, Jackie Moon starts to incorporate wild and unseen promotions to encourage more fans to visit their games, all awhile the team starts to move up in the standings. Based in the 70's, this is one of the funniest sports comedies that I've ever seen. I would recommend for any sports fan or Will Ferrell fan to see this film.

I wasn't to keen on watching it in the first place because it looked dumb and the movie was exactly what i thought it was going to be and a whole lot worse. Its another Will Ferrell fail (thank God he was in Stepbrothers otherwise all his movies would be fails)The story of Semi-Pro is Jackie Moon (Will Ferrell) and his basketball team the tropics trying to get into the NBA. Moon being the owner, coach and player takes it apon himself to lift the team into the NBA by doing outrageously silly stunts like wrestling a bear and media conferences to attract people to their home games. The team is lifted with gun player Clarence 'Coffee' Black (Andre Benjamin) and adopted coach/player Monix (Woody Harrelson)as they get really close to getting into the NBA but miss out thanks to Jackie.The movie never hits a high note as its funny bits are so stupid you don't even laugh at how stupid it is. Unless your a massive Will Ferrell fan don't watch it, even if you are still don't its the WORST movie i hav ever seen and the only movie I've walked out on.

1st watched 7/28/2011 – 3 out of 10(Dir-Kent Alterman): Silly comedy about a fictitious ABA basketball team out of Flint, Michigan and their quest to be merged into the NBA. This merger actually happened in real life back in the 70's but the ABA wasn't considered semi-pro but was equal to the NBA. The movie contains many un-truth's concerning this actual event(but for comedy's sake they get away with it). Will Ferrell, plays the owner, coach, announcer, player, promoter and motivator for the team that isn't doing well statistically or financially. They bring in a new point guard(whom they get in a trade for a washing machine for the Kentucky Colonels), played by Woody Harrelson, who is washed-up as far as a player, but knows the game and eventually takes over the coaching duties. There are funny bits in the movie but they are too few and far-between, and the movie ends up just playing out like a silly cliché-driven underdog sports movie that we've seen too many of. I personally wish they wouldn't have used the ABA because too many of us know the truth's about the league, which wasn't nearly as bad as the movie portrays it being. And please!! – Will Farrell starting on a professional basketball team?? He should have considered getting a little more in shape before taking on this role then maybe we would have believed him in the role a little more. But back to what the movie was supposed to be, a comedy – well, all-in-all the movie just wasn't that funny and therefore I definitely don't recommend it.