Semi-Pro

Director: Kent Alterman
Year Released: 2008
Rating: 1.0

Another one of those same old brain-dead, little variety Will Ferrell projects (also see Old School, Anchorman, Talladega Nights, Blades of Glory) - when he signs onto decent projects that have him try different things (like the straight man in the underrated Stranger Than Fiction) audiences just shrug. So here he's basically doing the same thing Ben Stiller is doing, repeating his past appearances: in this vehicle, he's a smarmy loser-type punished by life and somewhat mentally deficient (he volunteers to wrestle a bear, he volunteers to pull an Evel Knievel-type stunt and jump over cheerleaders) who owns (and promotes … and plays for) a struggling basketball team in, of all places, Flint, Michigan. The R rating is probably supposed to give everyone more leverage in how bawdy the humor can be but they don't make much use of it (just some infantile shouting and creative cursing); since the cast is mostly familiar to U.S. audiences, nothing they say or do is surprising.