Blades of Glory (Widescreen Edition) | Will Ferrell, Jon Heder

Blades of Glory (Widescreen Edition) | Will Ferrell, Jon Heder | Funny Take on Figure Skating

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Blades of Glory (W...

	Blades of Glory (Widescreen Edition) Will Ferrell, Jon Heder Dreamworks Video, 2007 average customer review:based on 179 reviews view larger image
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Ricky Bobby 2: This Time on Ice

Will Ferrell springboards off the success of Talladega Nights and lampoons another niche sport in Blades of Glory, a satire of figure skating. Although his character is more akin to his self absorbed and perverse Ron Burgundy, the film relies on the same formula that succeeded in his Nascar film, as joke after joke is leveled at the sport most of us don`t quite "get". The plot is full of one movie cliché after another, everything from a romance ruined when one party misinterprets a precarious situation to a breakneck chase to reach the arena in time to compete, but as long as you understand going in what to expect, this is a solid Will Ferrell film.

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Funny Take on Figure Skating

Jimmy MacElroy and Chazz Michael Michaels are long-time figure skating rivals. They are complete opposites - Jimmy was adopted by a man who trained him from a young age to be a champion and is germophobic; Chazz is a boozing sex addict. For the most part, their rivalry is only on the ice, but when they get into a fist fight at a competition they are both banned from skating for life. When a loophole is discovered that will allow them to skate together as pairs, they try to put their rivalry aside to compete again. But not only do they have to try to get along, at least on the ice, they have to deal with their main rivals, brother and sister team Stranz and Fairchild Van Waldenberg who will stop at nothing in their quest for gold.

"Blades of Glory" is a silly, goofy, at times raunchy comedy. It pokes fun at both skating (the costumes, music, routines) and its fans (who act more like they are at a football game instead of a skating competition), but it's not all that edgy. In fact, while Jon Heder at times plays Jimmy as being a bit effeminate, the movie skates around the issue of homosexuality in figure skating by making Chazz a sex addict usually surrounded by several women and giving Jimmy a female love interest. None of the movie is meant to be taken seriously and figure skating purists should ignore everything the movie gets wrong about figure skating (perhaps intentionally). None of the actors are going for Academy awards in this movie and much of the acting (and action) is over the top, but all of the actors seem to be having fun, especially Will Ferrell, Jon Heder, Will Arnett and Amy Poehler. The skating aspects are so-so (no doubt due to the limitations of the cast) but I wish the movie had shown more of the JFK/Marilyn Monroe routine - that could have been hilarious. There are a lot of real life figure skaters in the movie although most of them - Dorothy Hamill, Peggy Fleming, Sasha Cohen, and Nancy Kerrigan - have brief cameos. Scott Hamilton is a riot playing himself announcing the pairs competition.

"Blades of Glory" is funny, but definitely not for a younger audience as it is full of raunchy humor including throwing up after drinking and plenty of crotch shots.

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Ricky Bobby meets Napolean Dynamite

Two former rivals team up to become partners in a figure skating competition. Will Ferell fans will love this over the top slapstick comedy. If you are looking for a laugh and not in too serious of a mood it is worth watching.

"Chazz Michaels and Jimmy MacElroy ARE figure skating!"--Chazz Michael Michaels

Watching rivals Johnny Weir and Evan Lysacek compete in the 2006 Winter Olympics and the 2007 U.S. Championships made me think how cool it would be if there was a nasty rivalry in men's figure skating; one with lots of trash-talking, snubbing, and the occasional shoulder shove. Then this movie came with that cool idea! (Jimmy MacElroy--played by Napolean Dynamite's Jon Heder--even reminds me a little of Weir). Well, I think this film did a good job bringing this idea to life. There are also appearance by

My favorite part of the film was the beginning where MacElroy and Chazz Michael Michaels (Will Farrell) compete in the World Championships with documentary ("mockumentary" is probably a better word) footage of their lives shown between the performances. The mockumentaries were done like the real sports life stories that are broadcast during major sporting events (MacElroy is called "Little Orphan Awesome"). The skating footage is very well-done, especially MacElroy's. It really looks like the actor is doing those jumps (that "galloping peacock" is hilarious). The commentators (Scott Hamilton is one) make the scenes even funnier.

Having the rivals pair up because they were banned for life from singles competition is a unique twist to the basic good guy/bad guy sports adversaries theme. The brother/sister pair who try to cheat their way to win (the Van Waldenbergs) and MacElroy falling for their mistreated younger sister aren't the most unique ideas in the world but the "Iron Lotus" move--which is the most dangerous move in figure skating (people lose their heads over it) and the idea of "Coach" (played by "Coach's" Craig T. Nelson) that only two male skaters can pull it off brings another dimension to the competition.

The ending was a bit contrived and not as good as the beginning, but on the whole, it is an enjoyable film. Fans of legitimate figure skating can look out for appearances by Nancy Kerrigan, Scott Hamilton, Brian Boitano, Dorothy Hamill, and Peggy Fleming. The guy who plays MacElroy's stalker, Hector, (Nick Swardson) also plays Terry, the peculiar employee of Tacos, Tacos, Tacos on one of my favorite shows: Reno 911. He plays the same kind of role here. There's an extra on this DVD called "Hector: Portrait of a Psychofan."

The extras (and there are a lot of them) range from excellent to unwatchable. "The Making of..." is done tongue-in-cheek and gets very annoying at the end. "Arnett & Poehler: A Family Affair" is just plain stupid. "Celebrities on Thin Ice," which shows Farrell and Heder practicing was interesting. "20 Questions with Scott Hamilton" is good. The deleted scenes, however, are very worthwhile. They actually add insight to the characters. Chazz actually knew Jimmy at the orphanage. I wonder why some of these scenes were left out.

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GREAT CAST AND SOME FUNNY MOMENTS SAVE THIS FROM DISASTER!

I am a fan of most of the people in this film and I was not expecting this to be a masterpiece. It's got some very funny moments and it's barely an hour an a half long so, it's not hard to sit through this goofy comedy. This is not the best we have seen from any of these comics and I guess that is why I'm a little disappointed. It's worth renting or picking up cheap as the DVD transfer is very good and there are some interesting extras. The version I bought was a two disc version but, it doesn't state this on the case. If you like Will Ferrell you'll like this movie.

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