Review of Blades of Glory (2007) by Xristos S — 08 Nov 2011

"Blades of Glory" is a fairly decent run of the mill comedy that uses the "odd couple" concept at its core. Will Ferrell, as usual, is the funniest member of the cast, basically carrying all the comedy bits by himself. The script is so "run-of-the-mill", it feels like you've seen this movie before. Actually, you might have: it uses the same formula of previous Will Ferrell comedies such as Talladega Nights or Semi Pro and even Zoolander, even though that was a non-sports film but plot points matched up pretty much the same. I found the parallels between Blades of Glory and those films uncanny.

As for the film, In "Blades of Glory," Will Ferrell and John Heder play two rival figure skaters, Chazz Michael Michaels and Jimmy MacElroy, who are permanently banned from the sport when their gold medal tie results in a fisticuffs melee on the arena ice. After the men go their separate ways for awhile, Jimmy learns of a loophole in the rules which would allow them to return to skating but only if they compete in the doubles category. Even though the two men hate each other with the heat of a thousand white-hot suns and they would be the first all-male duo in the history of competitive skating, Chazz and Jimmy agree to bury the hatchet and take a stab at mounting a comeback. The fact that the two of them are complete opposites in terms of demeanor and style - Jimmy is a cupie-faced innocent while Chazz is a swaggering macho man, both on the ice and off - only adds to the absurdity.

"Blades of Glory" never aspires to be anything more than a dopey, crowd-pleasing, mainstream comedy, and, as such, it generally hits the mark. It's true that it runs out of comic steam from time to time and that it is more amusing when the two men are arch rivals than when they are the best of friends, but there are enough laughs to make the film decent fun for the not-too-critical viewer. Ferrell and Heder make an enjoyable comic team. Will Ferrell being the funnier of the two, but Jon Heder more than holds his own. Acting stalwart Craig T. Nelson provides just the right balance as their winning-obsessed coach. As the evil, self-absorbed sister-and-brother duo determined to sabotage the boys' chances, Amy Poehler and Will Arnett, fine comic actors under most other circumstances, are burdened here with having to bring to life two overly broad stereotypes. Despite their talents, that effort ultimately exceeds their grasp. Jenna Fischer (from The Office) was a pleasant surprise and was definitely at her absolute sexiness. Also There were some really funny bit parts from always funny and talented actors throughout the film..Guys like Nick Swardson, Rob Corddry, Romany Malco, William Fichtner and Luke Wilson all had me clamoring for more.

Blades of Glory definitely has its funny moments, and Will Ferrell fans will eat this one up. The movie is standard PG-13 rating comedic stuff, Blades of Glory managed to prove just entertaining enough to hold my interest and keep me reasonably entertained, even if I only found myself "laughing out loud "once or twice and barely emoting a smile the rest of the way. Ferrell and Heder have a wonderful chemistry and can pull off hating one another just a well as they can pull off being best friends and teammates.

.