Will Ferrell’s formula for box office success—Will Ferrell + ’70s attire = big bucks—is so well known and easy to capitalize on that anyone can do it. Enter first-time director Kent Alterman, who has assembled Ferrell and a gang of co-stars in “Semi-Pro,” the latest attempt to stick Ferrell’s ridiculous man-child persona into some paisley suits in an effort to mine comedy gold. But, this time around, the cracks in Ferrell’s comedic foundation are starting to show. It may be the beginning of the end for movies that rely on Ferrell’s goofy antics and inappropriate wardrobe choices to carry the production.

Ferrell stars as Jackie Moon, a washed up pop-star turned basketball franchise owner/coach/player. Jackie’s team is the Flint Tropics, the lowest-standing team in the American Basketball Association and the shame of Michigan. More concerned with getting groovy at the disco and showboating on the court, Jackie is neither a good coach nor a good player. When the ABA commissioner announces that the NBA will absorb the top four ABA teams at the end of the 1976 season, Jackie commits to getting his team to fourth place and future NBA glory. To do this, he trades the team’s washing machine for Monix (Woody Harrelson), a former NBA player whose best days on the court are far behind him. Monix’s addition to the team doesn’t sit well with the Tropics’ star player, Coffee Black (Andre Benjamin), who has NBA dreams of his own.

Halfway through “Semi-Pro,” Monix takes the coaching reins, telling Jackie that he’s a better promoter than a coach. This line could conceivably explain everything that’s wrong with “Semi-Pro.”

For a Will Ferell movie, “Semi-Pro” feels oddly Ferrell-less, with long, awkward and unfunny diversions that mostly focus on Monix and his relationship with his ex-girlfriend, Lynn (Maura Tierny). Harrelson and Tierny both seem pretty bored with the whole movie, but they might have been a decent onscreen couple without so many wacky basketball shenanigans getting in the way. Monix, at least, has some sort of back story and motivation, as thin as it is. But Jackie Moon seems like little more than an old, formerly funny “Saturday Night Live” character dusted off and thrown onscreen. The results, predictably, are scattershot and mostly lame.

In one sequence, Jackie forces the team to don mascot costumes and come up with a new halftime dance routine. It’s supposed to be hilarious in a surreal sort of way, but it feels forced and awkward. In another scene, Jackie wrestles a bear as part of a promotional stunt. What should be a can’t-lose proposition—after all, when isn’t bear wrestling funny?—falls flat.

There’s no snap to “Semi-Pro,” no real comedic energy to keep things humming. Alterman’s direction is pedestrian and the script, by screenwriter Scot Armstrong (who penned the Ferrell vehicle “Old School”), feels cobbled together, with some half-decent sketch ideas scattered among painfully unfunny moments. The lack of energy is odd, especially considering the supporting cast at work in “Semi-Pro.” With Andy Richter, Will Arnett and members of the Upright Citizens Brigade among the cast, you’d think the laughs would be bigger. For whatever reason, they’re not, and that leaves “Semi-Pro” only semi-funny. Whether this means Ferrell will have to find a new shtick is unclear, but he might want to think about updating his wardrobe