Semi-Pro is a 2008 American sports
screwball comedy film from
New Line Cinema. The film was directed by
Kent Alterman and stars
Will Ferrell,
Woody Harrelson,
André Benjamin and
Maura Tierney. The film was shot in
Los Angeles near
Dodger Stadium (in the gym of the
Los Angeles City Fire Department Training Center), in
Detroit and in
Flint, Michigan. It was released in theaters on February 29, 2008 and was released on
DVD and
Blu-ray on June 3, 2008. This was the last film from New Line Cinema before its sister company
Warner Bros. took over.
Plot
Set in 1976, Jackie Moon is a singer who has used the profits from his
one hit single "Love Me Sexy", to buy a basketball team in the
American Basketball Association, the
Flint Tropics, becoming the owner, head Coach and starting
power forward. The ABA Commissioner announces a plan to
merge the league with the
National Basketball Association, but only four teams will move to the more established league. The Tropics, the worst team in the league, are in danger of dissolving. In response, Jackie argues that the teams with the four best records overall should be merged into the NBA. The Commissioner reluctantly accepts Jackie's offer.
Now that the Tropics have somewhat of a shot to be an NBA franchise, Jackie trades away the team's washing machine to the Kentucky Colonels for Ed Monix, former backup point guard for the NBA Champions the Boston Celtics. Soon, the Commissioner reveals that as well as having a top-four record, the Tropics will also need a stable fan base and have an attendance of at least 2,000 fans at every remaining home game of the season.
Jackie begins to stage extremely desperate stunts, like wrestling a bear named Dewie after a basketball game. The Tropics begin playing better with Monix, as well as the increased intensity of Clarence Withers. Monix soon takes over as offensive and defensive co-ordinator, as well as starting point guard, leaving Jackie merely the title of head Coach. Monix trains the team rigorously with a play he calls the "puke", as the players are to run it, without a ball, until they vomit.
From Monix's training, the Tropics go on a winning run, moving them up from last to fifth. Suddenly Jackie, now extremely excited about the possibilities in his grasp, gets a visit from the Commissioner. The Commissioner tells the team that 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 on Saturday. Distressed, Jackie admits that he stole "Love Me Sexy" from a napkin his mother wrote on three weeks before she died. Now realizing that all his assets, including the team, are basically stolen, Jackie trades Withers to the Spurs so that he may realize his dream in the NBA. Monix inspires the team to leave everything on the court as, 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 Moon declares the "MegaBowl", the Tropics are in fifth place and with a win they would make it into fourth, although they have no chance in making it into the NBA. The game begins and the Tropics fall behind quickly. In the closing seconds of the first half, Jackie gets fouled hard by Spurs player Petrelli while going up for a shot and is injured. Withers decides he has seen enough and rushes in to the Tropics locker rooms with the rest of the team, which angers the Spurs players and Coach.
During halftime, an unconscious Jackie imagines that he is in heaven with his mother. He apologizes for stealing her song and then she gives him a weapon in order to win the final game of the franchise. Awaking in the locker room, he tells the team what they are going to do to win. Back on the court, the Tropics reveal their new weapon: the Alley-Oop. With the return of Withers, it is very effective and he leads the charge. At first, the referee calls the play a foul, but after some persuasion by Jackie and Monix, is soon convinced that it is a legitimate score. The Tropics take advantage of this new strategy and begin coming back. After the Spurs start defending against the Alley-Oop, Monix then takes charge and calls for them to run the "Puke" with 12 seconds left and down by two points, 115-117. The play gives Jackie the ball, but he gets fouled hard again with two seconds left. Shooting granny style, Moon sinks the first basket. The second rebounds off and Monix tips it in right at the buzzer for two points to score a victory for the Tropics.
The Coach of the Spurs offers Withers a position on the team. The now-former ABA Commissioner offers Jackie a position on the staff of the NBA Assistant Commissioner, as a marketing director. Just as Jackie is about to accept, the Commissioner is mauled by the bear Jackie wrestled with earlier.
Cast
Will Ferrell as Jackie Moon
André Benjamin as Clarence Withers / Coffee Black / Downtown "Funky Stuff" Malone / Sugar Dunkerton / "Jumping" Johnny Johnson
Woody Harrelson as Ed Monix
Maura Tierney as Lynn
Andy Richter as Bobby Dee
Andrew Daly as Dick Pepperfield
Will Arnett as Lou Redwood
David Koechner as Alan Ault, the ABA Commissioner
Rob Corddry as Kyle
Matt Walsh as Father Pat
Patti LaBelle as Jackie's Mom
Tim Meadows as Cornelius Banks
Jackie Earle Haley as Dukes
Kristen Wiig as Bear Trainer Girl
Jay Phillips as Scootsie Double Day
Josh Braaten as Twiggy Munson
Peter Cornell as Vakidis
Ian Roberts as Spurs Coach
Phil Hendrie as Nets Coach
DeRay Davis as Bee Bee Ellis
Pat Kilbane as Petrelli
Ellia English as Ms. Quincy, Clarence's mother
Ed Helms as Turtleneck reporter
Brian Huskey as White Pants reporter
Collette Wolfe as Melinda the Ball Girl
Artis Gilmore as Restaurant customer
George Gervin as Restaurant customer
Jason Sudeikis as Danny
Kate Luyben as Staci Moon (uncredited)
Grayson Boucher as Spirits Player #31 / Spurs Player #22 (uncredited)
Arne Starr as NY Nets On-Air Announcer (uncredited)
Jerry Minor as Paul the DJ (uncredited)
Tiffany Michelle as Sarah (uncredited)
Dewie the Bear
The 5-year-old, , male
grizzly bear 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, the bear bit 39-year-old
Stephan Miller (Randy Miller's cousin and fellow trainer) on the neck, killing him.
Marketing
A number 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 were filmed featuring Will Ferrell in character as Jackie Moon that were aired during
Super Bowl XLII. Some of the ads touted humorous promotional items with offers expiring in November 1977.
A music video was released with Jackie Moon singing his 'hit' "Love Me Sexy"
A prescreening at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas 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 swimsuit issue spread featured Ferrell with
Heidi Klum.
Reception
Critical reception
The film received poor reviews from critics. The review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes reported that 20% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 152 reviews (as of June 11, 2010), although the movie also received a rating of 5/10 from the same site.
Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 63 out of 100, based on 29 reviews.
In his review for The Village Voice, Robert Wilonsky 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". The movie received 2 stars of a possible 4 in the conventional ratings system.
Box office performance
In its opening weekend, the film grossed $15 million in 3,121 theaters in the
United States and
Canada, 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
, 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 $10,404,532 internationally, for a total of $43,884,230 worldwide.
Awards
2008 ESPY Awards
#
Best Sports Movie ESPY Award
Home Media
The film was released on DVD and
Blu-ray Disc on June 3, 2008. There is a theatrical R-Rated version DVD and Blu-ray Disc or a 2-Disc "Let's Get Sweaty" Unrated Edition DVD and Blu-ray Disc. Special features include unrated deleted scenes and more.
Soundtrack
| Name | Semi-Pro (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) |
|---|
| Type | Soundtrack |
|---|
| Artist | various artists |
|---|
| Released | February 26, 2008 |
|---|
| Label | New Line Records |
|---|
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" – Will Ferrell
# "Get Da Funk Out Ma' Face" – Brothers Johnson
# "Lady Marmalade" – Labelle
# "The World Is a Ghetto" – WAR
# "Tell Me Something Good" – Ronnie Laws
# "Mr. Big Stuff" – Jean Knight
# "Give Me Just a Little More Time" – Chairmen of the Board
# "Why Can't We Be Friends" – WAR
# "Walking in Rhythm" – The Blackbyrds
# "Dance to the Music" – Sly & The Family Stone
# "Love Rollercoaster" – Ohio Players
# "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)" – Sly & The Family Stone
# "Move on Up" – Curtis Mayfield
# "Shining Star" – Earth, Wind, & Fire
See also
The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh
Slap Shot
References
External links
Official site
Official trailer
Category:2008 films
Category:American films
Category:English-language films
Category:2000s comedy films
Category:American Basketball Association
Category:Basketball films
Category:Directorial debut films
Category:Films set in Michigan
Category:Films shot in Michigan
Category:Films shot in Los Angeles, California
Category:Films set in the 1970s
Category:Films set in 1976
Category:Flint, Michigan
Category:New Line Cinema films
Category:Sports comedy films
