This movie was pretty bad, not only one of Ferrell's worst but one of the worst examples of a paint-by-numbers Hollywood movie I've seen in a while. I'll skip the obvious criticisms that have been made in other reviews, but one serious critique of the movie I haven't heard is how it dredges up racist stereotypes of basketball players that I hoped was dying off.

Woody Harrelson -- who is truly ghoulish looking, with his leathery face and Javier Bardem's haircut from "No Country for Old Men" -- plays the hustling white player who cares about the integrity of the game, the hero of the movie who teaches the gifted-but-raw black star how to play the game the right way. It's one of the most tired and ugly themes in sports: the smart white coach/player is needed to tame and shape the talent of the wild black player. It's an incredibly old and powerful cliche, that white players are smart and adhere to the fundamentals because they lack athletic talent, while black players have athleticism in -- ahem -- spades but play wildly and selfishly.

The movie was bad enough in its retro excess but I wish someone involved with it had decided to cut out that particular aspect of our country's past.

The worst thing about "Semi-Pro" is that, now that someone has made a comedy about the ABA, I doubt if anyone will ever make the movie that the ABA really deserves.

I was a kid in the early 70s, growing up in Louisville, and absolutely worshiped my Kentucky Colonels. The year they won the ABA championship (`75, I think?), they were by far the best team in basketball. In Louisville, Indianapolis, and maybe one or two other markets, ABA basketball was the real deal, a legitimate challenger to the stuffy, gasping NBA.

But unfortunately, most of the teams in the ABA were poorly-run, fly-by-night operations relying on silly gimmicks to try to fill arena seats. From the little I can glean from reviews and trailers, it sounds like "Semi-Pro" concentrates on the more "colorful" side of the ABA's short life, and probably only mildly exaggerates it. Some seriously crazy shit happened, and I highly recommend Terry Pluto's terrific book "Loose Balls", which is an oral history told by the players, coaches and other participants. (Bob Costas got his start doing play-by-play for the Saint Louis Spirits!)

Thirty years later, I'm still angry that John Y. Brown was too much of a pompous ass to cough up the money to get the Colonels into the NBA, and the pain flares up when I see a former ABA team like the Spurs dominate the "establishment" teams. The short, colorful life of the ABA deserves a real movie.

Oh, and to anyone with a disparaging word about Stephanie, go to hell. Steph, I adore you. Anyone who liked "Masked and Anonymous" is OK in my book.

I remember having a mildly amusing time watching Wedding Crashers. Then Will Ferrell made his unannounced cameo. Most of the audience chortled just by looking at him. But I actually heard a few sad people groaning, and one of them was me.

is that when I watch Will Ferrell, I start laughing--really hard--and when it's over I may have wasted a little bit of time, but I sure was enjoying it along the way. And that's pretty much what I want out of comedy.

Hmmm, I seem to recall your trashing those of us that see through Ron Paul & what he "stands" for. Now according to your criteria, unless you are Ron Paul, then you have no right to say anything about our comments on him. In fact, if you disagree with anything anyone here says about any topic, unless you are actively involved in that topic, then you are not entitled to voice your opinion on it.

Gee, you're certainly going to be limited in what you post about if you follow your own criteria. Of course that will never happen.

As to Will Ferrell; some of his movies have been funny, ("Stranger Than Fiction" was good, as was "Elf" & "Blades Of Glory". "Talladega Nights" was an outright scream, & the only Will Ferrell movie I own, but you really had to know a lot about NASCAR & Southern culture in general to get some of the things they so accurately lampooned in it, as I was born & raised in NC, just outside Charlotte, was was both a fan of & had a lot of periphial involvement in NASCAR for several years I do know a lot on the subject), but far too many of them seem to be filled with what seems to be slap dash improv, (& I took 2 years of drama classes & a year of theatrical arts, so I do know a good bit about improvisation), that might have seemed funny at the time, but in retrospect too often falls flat. He can be funny, (witness his brilliance on SNL), but he reminds me more of Richard Pryor in films, another very talented man too happy to skate by on mannerisms, tics, abysmal mugging & phoning in his performances.

The three films I mentioned besides "Talladega Nights" are examples where he stepped outside that comfortable niche character he's created for himself, & thus let his real comedic talents shine.

He totally nailed the Bush persona with a single word: Stra-tee-ger-ee. Hilarious.

I can understand how people might be tired of Ferrell, but to say he is entirely unfunny? Ridiculous!

Someone up-thread already pointed out some of his classic SNL skits. They didn't even mention that Ferrell is the wielder of the cowbell in that immortal skit with Christopher Walken. Oh, but perhaps the Ferrell haters can't for the life of them understand why that skit was funny either.

Will Ferrell is a slow rolling accident drivers (viewers) can't seem to look away from. You know you shouldn't have such base instincts and morbid curiosities but you can't help yourself.

Time for a little self-help.

Repeat this mantra whenever the urge strikes: "Will Ferrell is NOT funny. I can do better."

Before you know it - the brain cells that shut down in the wake of Ferrell will actually start to fire properly again... and the sun will shine!