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By Chris Glazier

Well, it finally happened. I saw the signs and desperately wished it wasn’t true, but now it’s official: Will Ferrell has lost his touch.

Ferrell has joined the ranks of Chevy Chase, Eddie Murphy and Adam Sandler as hysterical comedians who started off with a bang on SNL, launched into superstardom with a few truly hysterical movies, and promptly fell off the comedy bandwagon with a dramatic thud.

If you’re listening for Ferrell’s thud, that would be Semi-Pro. Take it from me, a full-fledged Ferrell fanatic: This movie is not funny. I know Ferrell’s movies have been in a steady decline since the amazing Anchorman, but this thing is a huge drop-off from even Talladega Nights and Blades of Glory.

The setup is decent enough: a ‘70s-era ABA team needs to go from worst-to-first to survive. Of course it’s cliché, but it seemed like a decent excuse to watch Ferrell and company run around with goofy afros and make jokes to a funky soundtrack. The problem is, they don’t make many jokes, and when they do, they’re not funny.

Semi-Pro might have survived with a good supporting cast that could have ad-libbed their way through it, but there’s no Vince Vaughn or John C. Reilly to save this movie. Instead we get unhealthy amounts of Andre Benjamin and Woody Harrelson, two non-comedians who bring absolutely nothing to the table, while the amazing Will Arnett sits in the background, criminally underused.

Adding to the mess is the fact that for some reason, the producers decided to go for an R rating on a movie that clearly doesn’t need it. It was like they decided to throw in some random and unnecessary cursing, the ultimate sign of weak comedic writing.

I don’t know what it is about success that ruins comedic careers, but it always happens and apparently Ferrell isn’t immune. There’s still hope, though. He’s a decent actor (not to mention the greatest cameo performer in film history), so he has the ability to switch gears and do some more intelligent work, along the lines of Stranger Than Fiction.

I sure hope so. I’m terrified that in five years I’ll see him on a movie poster wearing a fat suit alongside Eddie Murphy.