5.8/10
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119 user 163 critic

Semi-Pro (2008)

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Jackie Moon, the owner-coach-player of the American Basketball Association's Flint Michigan Tropics, rallies his teammates to make their NBA dreams come true.

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4,360 ( 463)
1 win & 4 nominations. See more awards »

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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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Twiggy Munson
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Scootsie Double Day
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Storyline

Three men, three dreams. It's 1976 in Flint, Michigan. Jackie Moon's American Basketball Association team languishes in last place, with few fans in the seats. Jackie dreams of a merger with the NBA. A tough-minded point guard named Monix is at the end of his career; he's played on the champion Celtics but accepts a trade to Flint to be close to Lynn, the love of his life. Clarence "Coffee" Brown dreams of stardom: he's the Tropics' best player, but he's a hotdog who doesn't value teamwork. When the trio learns that a merger is in the works that won't include the Tropics, they pull the team together to try to achieve the impossible. Can dreams come true in Flint? Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

Putting the funk into the dunk. See more »

Genres:

Comedy | Sport

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some sexual content | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

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Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

29 February 2008 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Amatöör  »

Filming Locations:

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Box Office

Budget:

$55,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$15,075,114, 2 March 2008, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$33,472,850, 27 April 2008
See more on IMDbPro »

Company Credits

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Technical Specs

Runtime:

| (unrated DVD) | (unrated)

Sound Mix:

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Color:

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
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Did You Know?

Trivia

Lou Redwood threatens Cornelius Blanks with a Smith & Wesson Model 19 revolver, with a four-inch barrel. It was commonly issued to police officers in the 1970s, and is still carried by some. Like most .357 revolvers, it can fire .357 or .38 and .38+P rounds. See more »

Goofs

During the first game Jackie Moon introduces Yakadis as being "from a strange country called Lithuania." From the 1940s Lithuania was part of the Soviet Union and wasn't an independent country until 1990. See more »

Quotes

Jackie Moon: ELE! Everybody love everybody!
See more »

Crazy Credits

"No person or entity associated with this film received payment or anything of value, or entered into any agreement, in connection with the depiction of tobacco products." See more »

Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #19.208 (2011) See more »

Soundtracks

Que Sera Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)
Written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans (as Raymond Evans)
Performed by Sly and the Family Stone (as Sly & The Family Stone)
Courtesy of Epic Records
by arrangement with Sony BMG Music Entertainment
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User Reviews

 
Semi-funny
12 May 2008 | by See all my reviews

Figured the holiday was a great time to catch this movie, which I wasn't overly excited about, but thought it would be something to do on a lazy afternoon.

Got to the cinema a tad early and sat down and played some golf on my phone. About 10 mins in and I was the only one there. Awesome. Sadly about 5mins later two losers with no friends walked in, making it a cosy cinema of 3.

The film starts with a pre-game intro of the Flint Tropics, a struggling team in the former ABA basketball league. We learn from the get go that Jackie Moon (Ferrell, in a role not much of a stretch for him) is the team owner, promoter, coach as well as a player. Jackie brought the team on the back of his one-hit wonder "Love Me Sexy" and is in it just for the fame and fun. Before too long Jackie finds out his team will absorbed by the ABA-NBA merger...unless he can get them in the Top 4 teams. Jackie goes out and signs (from a trade for a washing machine) Monix, played by formerly good actor Woody Harrelson in a minor attempt to tun things around. Soon he makes some other changes, such as agreeing to let Monix become coach to get his team into the NBA. Will it work......? See it to find out.

There's some more good quirky Ferrell humour, but this isn't a classic. The story had a lot more potential but in some circumstances went too oddball and weird and missed some good opportunities, probably largely due to the extra screen time given to Ferrell. Give him a few better support comedians and this could have been a classic. They missed some great opportunities with the basketball action too. One of the early scenes was gold.....but then after that very little was paid attention to.


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