CINEMA: Semi-Pro

Oh dear. Here’s another 70s-based movie but with none of the wit or elegance of The Bank Job. It was inevitable Will Ferrell’s comedy gravy train was going to come off the rails at some point and here it does so spectacularly in a lumpen, lukewarm mess. Think Dodgeball or Blades Of Glory, but without one, single laugh, and you’ll have the measure of this ‘comic’ sporting caper set in the world of basketball.Jackie Moon, owner/player of the Tropics basketball team is having problems. His players are backfiring, the fans are staying away in droves, and if he’s not careful he’s going to miss out on a lucrative TV deal. So, in an effort to rally his troops and win a game or two he employs one-time pro player Monix (Woody Harrelson) to bring some new moves to the side. But is Monix past it and has the side slid so far into failure not even a miracle can save it?

The only real joke in Semi-Pro is the fact it is the 70s and everybody sports outrageous Afros, hideous kipper ties, platform shoes, paisley shirts and other fashion faux pas – and that’s just the men. This is leaden, clichéd and definitely sub-standard rather than semi-pro.

Way back in 1992 Woody Harrelson featured in another basketball-based movie, the far superior White Men Can’t Jump, so you’d do better to save your pennies at the box office and go and rent that instead of paying good money to see this.     Dee Pilgrim