Semi-Pro is set in 1976 where the Mavericks basketball team plays in the ABA, a fast paced and crazy basketball league that challenges the NBA with such things as slam dunk contests and three point contests.

Jackie Moon buys the Flint Michigan Tropics, the worst team in the ABA. They must overcome obstacles, and, most of all, win, because there are talks of merging the ABA and NBA, which will cause teams to be cut.

On February 29, 2008, Semi-Pro, starring Will Ferrell, was released in theatres. Unlike recent movies starring Will Ferrell, Semi-Pro isn’t intended to be just very funny, but funny with a great story line.

The movie stars Ferrell (Jackie Moon), Woody Harrelson (Monix), André Benjamin (Clarence “Coffee” Black), and many more. Semi-Pro is written by Scot Armstrong and is directed by Kent Alterman.

I went into the theatre only knowing what I saw in the commercials on TV. I did not want to read anything online, because I didn’t want to formulate a biased opinion. I wanted to get my own opinion and outlook of the new film. I have liked past movies that starred Ferrell, including Blades of Glory, Kicking and Screaming, Anchorman, Old School and Elf. So, I figured I would like Semi-Pro because I have liked Ferrell’s other movies.

The movie was funny at times and had the crowd laughing out loud a few times. There is some “bathroom humor” and some clean jokes. What makes the movie funny is that Ferrell’s team is very bad but tries to make a name for themselves.

Although some jokes were funny, it seemed as if the directors were trying too hard to make the audience laugh, causing the jokes not to be funny. I felt as if the story line was very typical, which took away from the originality of the film. Unfortunately Semi-Pro is not one of Ferrell’s best.

This movie was good, but not great, and I don’t recommend spending the money and going to the movies. It is a movie you can wait till it comes out on DVD. If you want to watch a Will Ferrell movie go get one of the movies I listed before. I would give this movie a star rating of 2.5 out of 5.