Will Ferrell in "Semi-Pro," sporting a jersey with more than just a passing similarity to the Pacers' old ABA uniforms.

The old American Basketball Association was a scream.

Full-tilt offenses, unorthodox marketing strategies and larger-than-life personalities on and off the court made it a blast to watch, as long as you weren't too hung up on, oh, defense, teamwork, that kind of thing.

There must be a great movie to be found somewhere in the ABA's history -- the St. Louis Spirits' Marvin Barnes alone would be source material enough.

But "Semi-Pro" is not a great movie. It doesn't even try to be.

Will Ferrell's latest comedy, set in the '70s, so you know there will at least be some awesomely bad hair, splits time between being a goofy basketball movie and ... a whole bunch of other stuff, none of it particularly interesting. There's a romance, a redemption story, a merger with the NBA and more.

Yet, none of it feels fully formed; first-time director Kent Alterman can't pull the strands together.

The stories just exist out there like rest stops on an interstate, something you visit from time to time but you forget about while you're driving toward your destination.

In this kind of film, of course, that destination is laughs. And there are quite a few -- it's a Will Ferrell movie, after all.

It's the kind of film where, if you were sitting over beers with a few buddies, and retelling some of the funniest bits, they might think it was hilarious. They would be mistaken.

Ferrell plays Jackie Moon, who had a hit single record and has parlayed his success into buying the Flint Tropics, a team in the foundering ABA. Moon, handily enough, is a decent player. But the league is sinking and a merger is in the works. However, the NBA will absorb only the top four teams.

Suddenly, the moribund Tropics have something to play for.

But that means bringing in aging star Ed Monix (Woody Harrelson), who has a bad reputation and, in a weird side story, a desire to reunite with ex-girlfriend Lynn (Maura Tierney).

The '70s are great fodder for idiotic comedy, and they're mined for some here. The cast is great -- in addition to Ferrell and Tierney, there's Andre Benjamin as the top player, Will Arnett as the color analyst, David Koechner as the ABA commissioner, Andy Richter as the team manager and, best of all, Andrew Daly as the play-by-play man.

"Semi-Pro" is the kind of film that DVD was invented for, practically; at least in that format you can fast-forward to the part where Jackie wrestles a bear, or skip ahead to Arnett and Daly's gametime banter.

Let's put it in basketball terms:

You look at the cast and its track record and think slam dunk, easy. Unfortunately, with the exception of a few funny scenes, "Semi-Pro" plays more like a blown lay-up.

Bill Goodykoontz / Associated Press