Will Ferrel is at it again, this time as Jackie Moon in Kent Alterman’s sports spoof “Semi-Pro.”

The 1970s disco era bears the brunt of a lot of easy jokes in this underdog story about an amateur basketball team hoping to merge with the NBA.

Moon is coach, power forward and – most importantly – owner and promoter of the Flint Michigan Tropics, a highly unmotivated team that regularly plays to a less than packed arena.

A one-hit-wonder pop star, Moon doesn’t so much lack the enthusiasm in his job; rather, his ideas of good ownership have little to do with winning and more about sideshow tactics to fill the seats – including but not limited to false-advertising gimmicks, wrestling a bear and opening each night with a performance of Moon’s classic “Love Me Sexy” (a pretty hilarious song that plays over the opening of the movie).

“Semi-Pro” draws from a large pool of comedic talent, the best cameo coming from Andrew Daly as Dick Pepperfield – funny because he nails the classic sports commentator persona.

The rest of the performances are not quite as authentic. And while Woody Harrelson brings some charm to the screen as the level-headed basketball champion Monix, his cute love story doesn’t really fall into place with the rest of the film’s zany antics.

This is, after all, a Will Ferrel comedy in which the former Saturday Night Live cast member plays the usual ignorant-but-lovable twit who can’t seem to comprehend that he is … an ignorant-but-lovable twit.

Ferrel truly was genius in live comedy and on the big screen has proven his star power more than once (see “Elf” and “Talladega Nights”), not to mention some range as an actor (check out his dry performance in a film called “Winter Passing”).

This may be the first Ferrel comedy, however, that seems to come off as a warning sign the belligerent humor may be more or less dried up. The movie is kind of funny. But kind of funny is not good enough in a one-trick pony like this.

What’s particularly interesting about this Ferrel comedy is the initially startling R-rated dialogue, startling because of the PG-13 nature of most of Ferrel’s work.

One could make the argument that curse words coming from the mouth of Ferrel are funnier than the average American. But even the potty language feels like little more than a gimmick to keep the comedy afloat.