Semi-Pro

"This ordinary, slightly boring comedy is for Will Ferrell fans only."

"Very much in the tradition of "Slap Shot," George Roy Hill's raucously funny and foul-mouthed 1977 laffer about the misadventures of a minor-league hockey team, Semi-Pro scores big laughs with the rowdy play-by-play of hard-luck hoopsters struggling for professional survival."

"Tired and tawdry, this tedious misfire is a misjudgement on Ferrell's part, namely in terms of material. Okay, okay, it's colourful in parts, and there is an amusing sequence in which a red-cloaked Ferrell has a punch up with Dewey the bear, but overall, Semi-Pro is a boring boor."

"Semi-Pro finds the sweet spot between sports melodrama and parody, and hammers it for 90 diverting minutes."

"Films like this are a calculated insult to intelligence, which possibly explains why they do so well at the box office."

"The comedy is sloppy, crude and contains far too many misfires, but the film does capture the old ABA spirit in its ungainly struggles to wrestle laughs from seriously mediocre material."

"True, there are some amusing set-ups, particularly involving Jackie's in-game tactics and pre-match promotions (wrestling a bear, rollerskating over cheerleaders, free gerbil night), but nothing here is as outrageous as what went on at the real-life New York Cosmos during the same era, as documented in 2006's Once in a Lifetime."

"Problem is, the story's dull, and the laughs leak away. There's no sense of excitement about the team's progress, and most of the characters are underdeveloped. ER's Maura Tierney pops up in a thankless role as Monix's ex, although her current beau's obsession with the player does lead to one funny, risque scene. Andre Benjamin also manages to eke a bit of personality out of his limited role. Semi-Pro is no disaster, but debut director Kent Alterman proves that Ferrell is better off working with the pros."