Semi-Pro, another addition to the sports-comedy genre of movies, provides some quick laughs, but overall, leaves viewers wishing they had waited for it to arrive at Netflix. Produced by New Line Cinema and playing in most major theaters, the movie attempts to jump on the bandwagon of sports related comedies that Will Ferrell is known for such as Talladega Nights and Blades of Glory.

Set in 1976, the movie stars Jackie Moon (Will Ferrell) as a former singer/entertainer who owns the Flint Tropics, a semi-pro basketball team in the American Basketball Association. Besides owning the team, Moon is the coach and power forward for the Tropics, a team that lacks the will to actually win games. The story is based on the real ABA merger with the NBA in 1976, where the four best teams in the league- the Spurs, the Nuggets, the Pacers, and the Nets- were going to become NBA teams while the rest of the teams, including the fictional Tropics, would be disbanded.

An angry Moon gets the ABA to agree to give his team a chance to go to the NBA. The Tropics just have to make it into the top four teams and have an average attendance of 2,000 fans at home games. Moon uses his entertainer background to promote his team using gimmicks and giveaways while his team continues to play poorly until their new player, Monix (Woody Harrelson) attempts to turn the team around.

Monix, a former benchwarmer on the Celtics, had been playing in the ABA circuit until being traded to the Tropics. Monix and Moon combine their talents to get the team going on the right track to hopefully be the ABA’s fourth best team.

The movie’s plot is neither ingenious nor exciting. It’s another story of an underdog sports team that somehow rallies around an attempt at glory. Unlike other movies in which Ferrell has starred in, Semi-Pro contains no memorable quotes, and leaves viewers trying to remember what was actually funny. The humor is mostly vulgar and sexually oriented with a plethora of profane language. Overall, it is a poor attempt at humor that leaves viewers momentarily chuckling until they realize they spent $10 to hear something they could have heard in a middle school hallway.

The movie feels rushed and there is very little character development. Most of the main characters on the team are nothing more than basketball players to the audience as we are not privy to either their lives or emotions. The high points of humor in the movie can all be seen by watching the commercials for the movie. I left the theater feeling like I had questions about some of the characters, including Moon. Viewer’s never see Moon’s home, family, or find out why he acts the way he does. It is hard to enjoy a movie when one feels like they can’t make any connections with the characters.

What could have been a slam dunk for Ferrell became a tragedy in the art of comedies. Unless watching grown men in short-shorts cursing up a storm is your idea of entertainment, save your money and your time. If you really do want to see the movie, wait to rent it. Believe me this movie will probably go to DVD fast.