Sidewalks On The Corner

OOOH YEAAHHH!!! Are you ready to love him, sexy? So the lyrics go as Will Ferrell sings the opening theme to his latest movie "Semi-Pro."

Follow up:

SEMI-PRO
New Line Cinema

Director: Kent Alterman
Starring: Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, Andre Benjamin, Maura Tierney, Will Arnett, Andy Richter, Rob Corddry, DeRay Davis, Josh Braaten, Jay Phillips, and Jackie Earle Haley

Studio Synopsis
Will Ferrell stars in Semi-Pro, an outrageous comedy set in 1976 against the backdrop of the maverick ABA – a fast-paced, wild and crazy basketball league that rivaled the NBA and made a name for itself with innovations like the three-point shot and slam dunk contest. Ferrell plays Jackie Moon, a one-hit wonder who used the profits from the success of his chart-topping song “Love Me Sexy” to achieve his dream of owning a basketball team. But Moon’s franchise, the Flint Michigan Tropics, is the worst team in the league and in danger of folding when the ABA announces its plans to merge with the NBA. If they want to survive, Jackie and the Tropics must now do the seemingly impossible – win. Semi-Pro co-stars Woody Harrelson ("Anger Management," "White Men Can’t Jump"), Will Arnett ("Blades of Glory," Arrested Development), Andre Benjamin ("Four Brothers," music group Outkast), Rob Corddry, Maura Tierney (ER), Josh Braaten, DeRay Davis, Jay Phillips, Jackie Earle Haley and Andy Richter (Late Night with Conan O'Brien). The film is written by Scot Armstrong ("Old School"), directed by Kent Alterman and produced by Jimmy Miller.

J.P. TAKE:
In this 70's inspired film, Ferrell is Jackie Moon, a singer/owner/coach/player of a washed up team from the American Basketball Association called the Tropics. His goal: Take the team to #4 in the league or die trying. It's a hilarious film, full of Harlem Globe Trotters-styled basketball playing, dialogue filled with potty mouth humor, and plenty of hot cheerleaders. Even the theme song and the classic 70's funk/soul soundtrack added some personality to the movie. The jokes actually hit the right targets, unlike "Balls of Fury" where the jokes stopped in their tracks, leaving the audience scratching their heads asking "UH...was that supposed to be funny?"

There are numerous supporting cast members here, so I won't even go into each and every performance, however, all were gut busting in their own way. Performances by the entire cast were impressive, as they served up a solid mixture of mellow dramatic and comedic performances, with notable performances by Woody Harrelson and Andre Benjamin, the rapper know as "Andre 3000" from Outcast, who made a nice transition from the world of hip-hop to acting. Blending into his character Coffee Black, Benjamin plays the basket player with the heart of an NBA player; only he's stuck playing for a weak team. You felt the realism in his body language and his words. Playing Ed Monix, the ex-championship player; Harrelson played him as if the character was tailor made for him.

I'm not much of a Will Ferrell fan because I feel that his style of comedic acting goes a bit overboard; almost tilting on Jim Carey style. But it wasn't until his break out role in the film "Stranger than Fiction" that I gained some respect for Ferrell as a real actor. In the film, he served up the perfect combination of drama and comedy without falling too far one way or the other. Ferrell does a great job of containing the beast within; he doesn't pour the comedy on too thick, yet still manages to keep the laughs coming. In other words he does some real acting.

"Semi-Pro" is one of those rare Will Ferrell movies (besides "Talladega Nights") that I find downright hilarious, and it's a little more down to earth. It's worth seeing either in the theater or on DVD.