Semi-Pro

A lot of comedians develop a "schtick" - that certain thing you just know they are going to do in a performance. Jim Carrey is going to be crazy and pull bizarre faces and make stupid voices in any comedy movie he makes. Robin Williams will do pretty much the same thing in any movie he makes...minus the bizarre faces. Adam Sandler is going to shout a lot and go off at people. Don't get me wrong, put them in a drama and they completely change. Robin Williams is truly sinister in One Hour Photo, and Jim Carrey is superlative in The Truman Show...even more so in Man On The Moon. But put them in a comedy and you can pretty much know exactly how they are going to perform it. Will Ferral is pretty much the same.
Semi-Pro is the story of a one hit wonder who goes on to buy, coach and play in a basketball team in the ABA, and the ABA is about to be absorbed into the NBA and he wants to be one of the teams that is. Woody Harrelson turns up to play a B-lister NBA performer who tries to stop the team from being shit and actually make them worthwhile. There are no surprises in this movie at all. You can pretty much know exactly how it is going to end from the outset. Of course they have to make it into the top four to get into the NBA, and of course Woody Harrelson gets them close to it, and of course everything falls apart, and of course they play the final match, and even though they win they don't get into the NBA, but who cares really because they worked together as a team and that's what really matters.
And of course, Will Ferrel plays exactly the same role that he plays in every other comedy movie he has taken the lead for. Yup, it's Ron Burgandy, but this time he's in the 1970's. Don't believe me? Watch Anchorman, specifically the scene after the big brawl where Steve Carrell talks about killing a man. Then watch Semi-Pro; case in point the scene where they play poker. Getting the same vibe peoples?
Oh, don't get me wrong, there are some funny bits in this movie, but if you've seen the trailer you've pretty much seen those funny bits (although the poker scene/jive turkey bit is actually laugh out loud hilarious). It's not even a bad movie. It's just a very predictable movie with nothing particularly original about it. Wait til it comes out on video.
"C+"