Will Ferrell (right) as Jackie Moon in "Semi-Pro."

The biggest complaint I have about Will Ferrell's latest (and there are plenty) is its rating.

For some reason, director Kent Alterman chose to leave in the plentiful F-bombs, which neither add to the story nor make it any funnier, leaving a wholly unnecessary R rating to hamper its box office total.

It doesn't help, especially considering this is the least funny Will Ferrell film in quite some time.

Ferrell plays Jackie Moon, the ersatz owner/coach/forward for the fictional Flint (Mich.) Tropics, the sorriest of ABA teams both in attendance and skill.

The squad's star player (Andre Benjamin of "Idlewild") dreams of playing on the big stage, but the bunch of has-beens (or never-have-beens) are holding him back.

Then comes the announcement by the ABA commissioner (David Koechner of "Anchorman") that the ABA is merging with the NBA, with four teams to join the league, which the rest retire to oblivion. Of course, those teams are the San Antonio Spurs, the Denver Nuggets, the New York Nets, and the Indiana Pacers.

Jackie throws a fit, and suggests that the teams with the four best records should go to the NBA, prompting Jackie to trade for a washed up star played by Woody Harrelson, who stresses actual basketball fundamentals.

You can guess where things go from there, as it's strictly sports formula, with the exception of the film's conclusion. It's not spoiling anything to tell you that the Flint Tropics were not and never have been an NBA team.

The film has a few laughs, most notably a scene where the Tropics' color announcer takes exception to being called a very 70s insult, and the film's hilarious theme song. But the film leans largely on short shorts, large hair and outlandish 70s fashion for laughs.

As with most of Ferrell's other characters, Jackie Moon is a complete dolt who buys his own press and is completely oblivious to the fact that every decision he makes is totally and completely (and obviously) wrong.

Indianapolis does get a little love: the meeting with the ABA commish takes place in Indy, and the Pacers are referenced, but I was disappointed that they never made it on screen.

But with a weaker script, less improv, and fewer quality comedians to bounce jokes off of, "Semi-Pro" comes off as just that.