REEL CRITIC:

Will Ferrell has to be one of the most likable actors in show business. This likability and his considerable comedic talent have allowed Ferrell to enjoy a string of hit movies and become arguably America’s favorite funny man. Unfortunately, with his new basketball movie “Semi-Pro” Ferrell has, to use the proper sport terminology, thrown an “airball.”

Ferrell stars as Jackie Moon, a “one-hit wonder” during the 1970s disco era. Jackie’s one hit, “Love Me Sexy,” produced enough money for him to buy the Flint, Mich., Tropics, an old American Basketball Association (ABA) team. The team wears incongruous Miami Dolphin orange and teal uniforms on the court and comically outrageous 1970s fashions when they are not playing. Despite resorting to some of the cheesiest promotions ever devised, the Tropics play to a nearly empty Flint Municipal Auditorium every night.

Jackie Moon not only owns the Tropics, he also coaches and is one of the starting players. Ferrell’s usual earnestness and his character’s obliviousness to his lack of athletic ability cannot make up for Scot Armstrong’s truly horrible writing. Forgoing the usual shared writing credit, Armstrong is listed as the sole writer for this debacle. Given that he also wrote such gems as “School for Scoundrels” and “Road Trip,” Armstrong’s résumé is questionable at best.

Just when it appears Jackie and the team are about to go under, the ABA announces they are going to merge with the larger and more profitable NBA. Jackie’s happiness is short-lived when he finds out only the top four teams will be absorbed into the larger league with the added caveat that each team selected must draw at least 2,000 fans per game. This causes Jackie to dream up even more outrageous promotions such as wrestling a bear. He also trades the team’s washing machine for a worn-out veteran player named Monix (Woody Harrelson). Other cast members, most of whom are largely wasted, include Andre Benjamin, Maura Tierney, Will Arnett and Jackie Earle Haley.

Given the era, based somewhat on factual background story, and the actors involved, “Semi-Pro” could have been a much funnier film. In addition to the script problems, there are other issues as well. The basketball sequences are amateurishly staged and unexciting. The big Afros, wild prints and wedge shoes are mildly amusing for the first five minutes of the picture. The entire film and the performances are strangely “flat” and boring.

Hopefully Ferrell’s next offering will be far better than “Semi-Pro.” Even the most fervent Ferrell fans should wait for this one to hit the video stores. Given the box office receipts of about $15 million in its first weekend of release, they probably won’t wait long.

VAN NOVACK is the assistant vice president of institutional research and assessment at Cal State Long Beach and lives in Huntington Beach with his wife, Elizabeth.