'Semi-Pro' is rated R, for raunchy

"Semi-Pro" is a goofy Will Ferrell sports movie, but it is NOT "Blades of Glory" or "Talladega Nights."

Those movies were PG-13, and somewhat raunchy. "Semi-Pro" is a hard "R," and it's very raunchy. You don't want preteens - a major Ferrell constituency - anywhere near this movie. "Semi-Pro" contains widespread use of obscene language, and there is sexually explicit content.

If the movie's R-rated nature has snuck up on you, that's understandable. For months, the "Semi-Pro" ads have been running with a disclaimer that says "this movie is not yet rated."

Not yet rated, but there cannot have been any doubt as to what the rating would be. To cut the obscene language from this movie would have reduced the running time to five minutes.

A cynical person might conclude that the film company wasn't eager for parents to know this was an "R." A cynical person might also conclude that the movie's marketing partnership with Old Spice (the TV ads feature Will Ferrell's character as a goofy pitchman for the product) enables them to hype an R-rated movie without mentioning the rating at all.

Well, forewarned is fore-armed.

It's an "R."

- Gary Thompson