There is nothing even remotely redeeming about the film’s message. Aside from some vague platitudes about friendship and loyalty and working hard to achieve your goals, Semi-Pro is mostly Ferrell’s silly vignettes and vulgar jokes about sex, lying to get ahead and bodily parts and functions. While the film can be commended for not taking the “how disgusting can we get” approach to comedy like last year’s Superbad or The Heartbreak Kid, it certainly earns its “R” rating.
In the end, Semi-Pro falls victim to one of the classic spoof film blunders: it starts to take itself too seriously. No one expects this cast of clueless yahoos to win; that’s not why you watch a movie like this. But about two-thirds of the way through the film, the tone changes a bit, and it starts to play like Hoosiers. But these aren’t scrappy underdogs with a shot at glory. These are buffoons strolling blindly through an awkward situation for which they are woefully unprepared. When you try and end a spoof with “We Are the Champions,” you’ll get neither laughs nor inspiration.
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- Language/Profanity: Every sort of profanity and vulgarity you could imagine. Quite a bit of sexual innuendo.
- Drugs/Alcohol: Smoking and drinking throughout the movie. Several scenes in bars or clubs.
- Sex/Nudity: The film opens with Jackie Moon’s hit song “Love Me Sexy” which is filled with innuendo and sexual references. Monix and ex-wife Lynn are shown having sex on her couch, (no explicit nudity shown) when Kyle (Lynn’s husband or live-in boyfriend, the movie is unclear on that point) walks in on them. Kyle is such a huge fan of Monix that instead of being upset he sits down to watch. Cheerleaders are often shown dressed only in bikinis.
- Violence: A brawl erupts on the basketball court between two teams. Jack slaps one of his players in the face for having a bad attitude. A man is accidentally shot when a group of guys playing poker starts playing around with an allegedly unloaded gun. Several times characters threaten to hurt one another. Monix promises to make the team work out until they throw up, and he succeeds at this. Jackie (and later his friend) gets mauled by a bear he decides to wrestle.