Blades of Glory Review
by Jerry Saravia (Faust668 AT msn DOT com)September 8th, 2007
BLADES OF GLORY (2007)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
RATING: Three stars and a half
I don't think I'll ever grow tired of Will Ferrell. Even in junk like "Old School" and "A Night at the Roxbury," Ferrell was not boring or unwatchable. Fortunately, he graduated to riotous fare with "Anchorman" and "Talladega Nights," and fueled his dramatic abilities in "Stranger than Fiction" and "Melinda and Melinda." Add "Blades of Glory" to his riotous, wickedly funny palette.
Will Ferrell is Chazz Michael Michaels, the sex god of the figure skaters who can lure women with his prowess and presence on the skating rink ("He wants to make love to the crowd," as one of the announcers states). He has no coach yet his moves are legendary. His competition is Jimmy MacElroy (Jon Heder), a disciplined skater who lacks the presence of Chazz. They both tie for the gold medal, and then practically beat each other to a pulp resulting in getting knocked off the podium (and setting a poor mascot on fire). Both figure skaters are banned for line. That is until Jimmy's former coach (Craig T. Nelson) is convinced by Jimmy (and a delirious superfan) that he and Chazz can skate due to a loophole in the rules: they will skate as partners! Since males have never skated as partners before, this is seen as historic in the annals of figure skating.
A sibling figure skating pair, Stranz and Fairchild Van Waldenberg (the hilarious Will Arnett and Amy Poehler), see Jimmy and Chazz as a threat so they get little sister, Katie (Jenna Fischer, the secretary from TV's "The Office) to woo Jimmy and Chazz! Naturally, Katie develops feelings for Jimmy. You need not know anything about the Olympics or figure skating to see where this is going.
"Blades of Glory" has many funny pratfalls and sexual innuendoes, and clearly there are a few digs at the Olympic figure skating world (not to mention a joke on the Tonya Harding scandal). Every actor basically overacts except for Will Ferrell, who plays it so straight that he is practically believable, and Jenna Fischer who exudes as much sweetness and sympathy as she does on "The Office." Will Arnett occasionally dials it down yet his demented smile is awakened every time he shares a scene with Amy Poehler. And Jon Heder will still seem unrecognizable to those who loved his geeky, iconic Napoleon Dynamite - he is so placid, even when he shouts, yet he holds his own with Ferrell. And if you have to give high marks for an inspired moment where Jimmy speaks Japanese to a Japanese journalist perfectly (Jon Heder really knows how to speak it, too).
I must add how impressed I am by Will Ferrell. He is loose, engaging, energetic and has priceless reaction shots. I don't care how many variations on sports comedies he makes - as long as he is allowed to be so loose and not overplay his part, I will be there watching.
"Blades of Glory" is a cartoon of wild comic implausibilities and, if admired on that scale, it works. The ending is slightly longer than it needs to be, but there are so many choice moments that deliver belly laughs (including a truly original chase scene involving skates) and so many insane song choices (such as Queen's "Flash Theme") and so much tomfoolery that I was left smiling and in high spirits. For truly wacky, wild, boisterous humor, you can't go wrong with "Blades of Glory." And if any of you out ever want to be figure skaters, watch out for the Iron Lotus routine!
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