''Semi-Pro'' is a 2008 American sports

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

. The film was directed by

Kent Alterman Kent Alterman is an American film director and producer. He made his directorial debut in 2008 with ''Semi-Pro'' starring Will Ferrell. Early life and Career Alterman graduated in 1981 from the University of Oregon. He was president of Comedy ...

in his directorial debut, written by

Scot Armstrong Scot Armstrong is an American screenwriter, Film director, director, and Film producer, producer. He is credited with writing or co-writing numerous comedy films, including ''Old School (film), Old School'', ''The Hangover: Part II'', ''Semi-Pro ...

, and produced by Jimmy Miller. It stars

Will Ferrell John William Ferrell (; born July 16, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. He first established himself in the mid-1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'', where he performed from 1995 to 200 ...

Woody Harrelson Woodrow Tracy Harrelson (born July 23, 1961) is an American actor and playwright. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, in addition to nominations for three Academy Award ...

André Benjamin André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew, and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries. It is a variation o ...

and

Maura Tierney Maura Therese Tierney (born February 3, 1965) is an American film, stage, and television actress. She is best known for her roles as Lisa Miller on the sitcom ''NewsRadio'' (1995–1999), Abby Lockhart on the medical drama '' ER'' (1999–2009), ...

, set during the final season of the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...

and telling the story of a fictional ABA team desperate to survive the league's merger with the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

. The film was shot in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

near

Dodger Stadium Dodger Stadium is a baseball stadium in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is the home stadium of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers. Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a cost of ( ...

(in the gym of the

Los Angeles City Fire Department The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD or LA City Fire) provides emergency medical services, fire cause determination, fire prevention, fire suppression, hazardous materials mitigation, and technical rescue services to the city of Los Angeles ...

Training Center), in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

, and in

Flint, Michigan Flint is the largest city and seat of Genesee County, Michigan, United States. Located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the region known as Mid Michigan. At the 2020 census, Flint had a population of 8 ...

. Released in theaters on February 19, 2008 and released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

and

Blu-ray Disc The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and c ...

on June 3, 2008, it was the last film from

New Line Cinema New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after acq ...

before they were absorbed by

Warner Bros. Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film production and distribution company of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment (both ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery). The studio is the flagship producer of liv ...

. As of 2021, it is the only film directed by

. The film received generally negative reviews, with critics criticizing the script, though Ferrell’s performance received praise.

Plot

In 1976, Jackie Moon is a singer who used the profits from his

one-hit wonder A one-hit wonder or viral hit is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music p ...

, "Love Me Sexy", to buy a basketball team in the

(ABA), the

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...

Tropics, becoming the owner, head coach, starting power forward, and pre-game announcer. At a team owner's meeting, the ABA Commissioner announces a plan to merge the league with the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA), but only four teams will move to the more established league. The Tropics, the worst team in the league, are in danger of dissolving. Jackie, thinking fast, argues that the teams with the four best records should be merged and the Commissioner accepts. Jackie trades the team's washing machine to the

Kentucky Colonels The Kentucky Colonels were a member of the American Basketball Association for all of the league's nine years. The name is derived from the historic Kentucky colonels. The Colonels won the most games and had the highest winning percentage of ...

for Ed Monix, a backup

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

who won an NBA Championship with the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

, but did not play during the playoffs. The Commissioner reveals that in addition to finishing in the top four, the Tropics will also need at least 2,000 fans at every remaining home game. Jackie begins to stage extremely desperate stunts in order to boost attendance, like wrestling a bear named Dewey, as well as the increased intensity of Clarence Withers, the Tropics' best player. Monix takes over as offensive and defensive coordinator and starting point guard, leaving Jackie as the head coach. Monix trains the team rigorously with a play he calls the "Puke", as the players are to run it until they literally throw up. From Monix's training, the Tropics go on a winning run, moving from last to fifth. Jackie gets a visit from the Commissioner. The NBA does not think that Flint has a large enough media market and will not allow the Tropics into the league even if they beat the first place

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Division ( ...

in the last game of the season. Jackie admits that he stole "Love Me Sexy" from a napkin his mother wrote on three weeks before she died. Realizing that all his assets are basically stolen, Jackie trades Withers to the Spurs so that he may realize his dream of playing in the NBA. Monix reassembles and inspires the team to leave everything on the court, while they may not be able to continue the franchise after this season, they have come very far and still have a lot to prove. Going into the Spurs game, which Jackie declares the "MegaBowl", the Tropics are in fifth place and with a win they would make it into fourth, even though they will not be allowed into the NBA. The Tropics fall behind quickly, and Jackie is knocked unconscious when fouled hard at the end of the first half. Withers decides he has seen enough and rejoins the Tropics in their locker room, destroying his chance at the NBA with the Spurs. An unconscious Jackie imagines that he is in heaven with his mother. He apologizes for stealing her song and she gives him a weapon in order to win. Starting the second half, the Tropics reveal their new weapon: the alley-oop. With the return of Withers, the alley-oop is very effective, but the referee initially calls the play a foul. After some persuasion by Jackie and Monix, the referee is convinced that it is a legitimate play. With seconds left, they have closed to within two points, 117–115, when the Spurs execute a defence against the Alley-Oop. Monix calls a time-out and tells them to run the "Puke", executing multiple razzle-dazzle passes ending with the ball in Jackie's hands under the netbut he gets fouled hard again with two seconds left, giving him 2 free throws. Shooting granny style, Jackie sinks the first basket. The second bounces off the rim but Monix tips in the rebound right at the

buzzer A buzzer or beeper is an audio signaling device, which may be mechanical, electromechanical, or piezoelectric (''piezo'' for short). Typical uses of buzzers and beepers include alarm devices, timers, train and confirmation of user input such as a ...

for two points to win, sparking a wild celebration in the arena and the streets of Flint. The Spurs' coach offers Withers his position back, while the now-former ABA Commissioner offers Jackie a position on the staff of the NBA Assistant Commissioner, as a marketing director.

Cast

Cameos

In addition, former

players, Artis Gilmore and

George Gervin George Gervin ( ; born April 27, 1952), nicknamed "the Iceman", is an American former professional basketball player who played in both the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Virginia Squires, ...

, appear in uncredited roles as customers in a restaurant, while the already extensive list of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

'' cast members includes Jerry Minor, in the uncredited role of DJ at the nightclub.

Dewie the Bear

The 5-year-old, , male

grizzly bear The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horri ...

named Rocky appeared in the film in a scene where Will Ferrell's character wrestles him to promote his basketball team. Stuntman and trainer Randy Miller doubled for Ferrell during the wrestling match with the bear. On April 22, 2008, seven weeks after ''Semi-Pro'' entered wide release, the bear bit 39-year-old Stephan Miller (Randy Miller's cousin and fellow trainer) on the neck, killing him.

Marketing

*A number is shown in the teaser trailer 1-800-TROPICS, when called played a recorded message of Jackie Moon talking about season ticket packages for the 1976 season. *Several ads for

Anheuser-Busch Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC is an American brewing company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2008, it has been wholly owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (AB InBev), now the world's largest brewing company, which owns multiple glo ...

were filmed featuring Will Ferrell in character as Jackie Moon that were aired during

Super Bowl XLII Super Bowl XLII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

. Some of the ads touted humorous promotional items with offers expiring in November 1977. *A

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

was released with Jackie Moon singing his 'hit' "Love Me Sexy". *Ferrell appeared in character as Jackie Moon in TV spots for Old Spice deodorant. * A prescreening at the Alamo Drafthouse in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

two weeks prior to the box office debut featured an appearance by Will Ferrell and director Kent Alterman. In order to obtain entrance to the theater, all viewers had to wear a basketball uniform similar to the one worn by Ferrell in the film. * An official Jackie Moon ''Semi-Pro'' costume was released in summer 2008 for Halloween. * A ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'' swimsuit issue spread featured Ferrell with

Heidi Klum Heidi Klum (; born 1 June 1973) is a German-American model, television host, producer, and businesswoman. She appeared on the cover of the ''Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue'' in 1998 and was the first German model to become a Victoria's Secre ...

Reception

Critical reception

''Semi-Pro'' received generally negative reviews from critics. The review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

gives the film an approval score of 22% based on 161 reviews, with an average rating of 4.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "''Semi-Pro'' is an intermittently funny, half-hearted attempt at sports satire, and one of Will Ferrell's weaker cinematic efforts."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

reported the film had an average score of 47 out of 100, based on 29 reviews. Matt Zoeller Seitz of ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' said, "''Semi-Pro'' finds the sweet spot between sports melodrama and parody, and hammers it for 90 diverting minutes." Peter Travers writing for ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' stated, "when the script, by Scott Armstrong, shoots air balls, Ferrell is a slam-dunk." Claudia Puig of ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' said, "Although not exactly a slam dunk, ''Semi-Pro'' is definitely more than semi-funny." In his review for ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

'',

Robert Wilonsky Robert Elliott Wilonsky (born October 24, 1968) is an American journalist, and the former host of ''Higher Definition'', an interview program on the cable television network HDNet. Biography Early life Wilonsky was born in Dallas, Texas to Marg ...

gave the film 2 stars of a possible 4 and wrote that director Kent Alterman, "valiantly tries to tweak the formula by adding a dash more sincerity and humanity to the froth but doesn't get too adventurous. But in the end, it's comedy comfort food, something powdered poured from a box."

Box office performance

In its opening weekend, the film grossed $15 million in 3,121 theaters in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, holding the number one position at the box office. Alicia Chang of the Associated Press described the opening as "lackluster" compared to Ferrell's previous sports spoofs ''

Talladega Nights ''Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby'' is a 2006 American sports comedy film directed by Adam McKay who co-wrote the film with Will Ferrell. It features Ferrell as the titular Ricky Bobby, an immature yet successful NASCAR driver. The f ...

'', which opened with $47 million, and '' Blades of Glory'', which opened with $33 million. The basketball film went on to gross $33,479,698 domestically and $10,405,206 internationally, for a total of $43,884,904 worldwide.

Awards

2008 ESPY Awards #

Best Sports Movie ESPY Award The Best Sports Movie ESPY Award was an annual award honoring the achievements of an individual from the world of sports film making. It was first awarded as part of the ESPY Awards in 2002, and was discontinued nine years later. The Best Sports ...

2008 Teen Choice Awards The 2008 Teen Choice Awards ceremony was held on August 4, 2008, at the Gibson Amphitheatre, Universal City, California. The event was hosted by Miley Cyrus, who also performed. Performers * Miley Cyrus – "7 Things" * Mariah Carey – "I'll ...

Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie - Comedy Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the te ...

(Nominated)

Home media

The film was released on DVD and

on June 3, 2008. There is a theatrical R-Rated version DVD and a 2-Disc "Let's Get Sweaty" Unrated Edition DVD and Blu-ray Disc. Special features include unrated deleted scenes and more.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for the film was released on February 26, 2008 and featured songs by LaBelle, WAR, Curtis Mayfield, Will Ferrell, among others. "Love Me Sexy" is sung by the fictional Jackie Moon (played by Will Ferrell). # "Love Me Sexy" –

# "Get Da Funk Out Ma' Face" –

Brothers Johnson The Brothers Johnson were an American funk and R&B band consisting of American musicians and brothers George ("Lightnin' Licks") and Louis E. Johnson ("Thunder Thumbs"). They achieved their greatest success from the mid-1970s to early 1980s, ...

# " Lady Marmalade" – LaBelle # "

The World Is a Ghetto ''The World Is a Ghetto'' is the fifth album by American band War, released in late 1972 on United Artists Records. The album attained the number one spot on ''Billboard'', and was ''Billboard'' magazine's Album of the Year as the best-selling a ...

" – WAR # "

Tell Me Something Good "Tell Me Something Good" is a song by Rufus and Chaka Khan, written by Stevie Wonder and released in 1974. The single was a hit in the United States, peaking at number three on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and spent one week at number one on the ' ...

" – Ronnie Laws # " Mr. Big Stuff" – Jean Knight # " Give Me Just a Little More Time" – Chairmen of the Board # "

Why Can't We Be Friends ''Why Can't We Be Friends?'' is the seventh studio album by American funk music, funk band War (American band), War, released on June 16, 1975 by United Artists Records. Two singles from the album were released: Why Can't We Be Friends? (song), ...

" – WAR # "

Walking in Rhythm "Walking in Rhythm" is a smooth rhythm and blues and jazz song by the Blackbyrds. It tells the tale of a man who is passionate about getting back home to his female companion. The song charted in March 1975 and reached number six on the US ''B ...

" – The Blackbyrds # " Dance to the Music" – Sly & The Family Stone # "

Love Rollercoaster "Love Rollercoaster" is a song by American funk music, funk/R&B band Ohio Players, originally featured on their 1975 album ''Honey (Ohio Players album), Honey''. It was composed by William Beck, Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner, Leroy Bonner, Marshall ...

" –

Ohio Players Ohio Players is an American funk band, most popular in the 1970s. They are best known for their songs "Fire (Ohio Players song), Fire" and "Love Rollercoaster", and for their erotic album covers that featured nude or nearly nude women. Many of t ...

# " Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)" – Sly & The Family Stone # "

Move On Up "Move On Up" is a song by Curtis Mayfield from his 1970 debut album ''Curtis''. Nearly nine minutes long on the album version, it was released as a single in the United States (Curtom 1974), but failed to chart. An edited version of the song spent ...

" – Curtis Mayfield # " Shining Star" – Elijah Kelley

References

External links

Official trailer
* * * * * {{Authority control 2008 films 2000s sports comedy films American Basketball Association American basketball films American sports comedy films Films set in Michigan Films shot in Los Angeles Films shot in Michigan Films set in 1976 Flint, Michigan New Line Cinema films Films scored by Theodore Shapiro Films with screenplays by Scot Armstrong 2008 directorial debut films 2008 comedy films San Antonio Spurs 2000s English-language films 2000s American films