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Blades of Glory has flashes of brilliance and moments of real humor, but sags at times under the weight of script that feels like it was written by committee. Actually, with five writers on board, it was. Nevertheless, it's well worth seeing for one reason alone: Ferrell. He is Blades of Glory. Everyone else is purely forgettable, with Jon Heder putting on full display an almost complete lack of acting and comedic chops. Would a funnier sidekick have helped? Almost certainly, but Will Ferrell's does just fine on his own. Funniest moment? A Korean skating move gone wrong. Priceless.
Who would have thought it; "The Cutting Edge" (1992) romantic drama (Moira Kelly and D.B. Sweeney) as bickering would-be Olympic Figure Skaters could ever provide a template for a Will Ferrell comedy? And yet it is all there in the spectacularly silly laugh riot "Blades of Glory" The bitter enemies who soften when they are forced to work together, the wealthy father pushing his child to win the gold, the rival team that threatens the hopefuls' dreams, the dedicated coach, and the unprecedented maneuver that will either surely win the competition or maim or even kill one of the partners. Talk about your miracles on ice. Somehow the screenwriters have taken a love story and utterly transformed it. - LOL "Napoleon Dynamite's" (Jon Heder), is the rich kid Jimmy MacElroy. In his peacock costume, he cuts a more delicate figure out on the rink. But (Will Ferrell's) Chazz Michael Michaels is, if anything, even fuller of machismo than Sweeney, prone to sex addiction, alcoholism, and steroid abuse; a heavy-metal demon on skates. Jimmy and Chazz hate each other; that enmity leads to a fistfight in front of a worldwide televised audience and they lose everything when each is banned from the sport for life. Banned from 'Individual Competition' that is; which is what sets the plot in motion when Jimmy discovers there is a loophole and that they can still compete in pairs skating. With only weeks to go before Nationals and no female partners in sight, their only alternative is to skate with each other and become the first 'same-sex' pair skaters in the sports' history. It is a thin joke to build a movie on, predicated on gay panic and the stereotype that somehow male figure skaters are not as masculine as athletes in other sports. It would seem that the comedy would wear out long before the movie ended, and yet it doesn't. The writers do find surprisingly many ways to milk laughs out of the situation, and directors Josh Gordon and Will Speck are blessed with excellent timing. Jimmy and Chazz's skating rivals Stranz (Will Arnett) and Fairchild Van Waldenberg (Amy Poehler), a quasi-incestuous brother and sister act, are hilarious in their own ridiculous subplot and even funnier on ice in their ludicrous (but brilliantly conceived) routines. If Jenna Fischer as their timid sister Katie (and Jimmy's love interest) does not fare as well, it is only that her pallid character is underwritten. Ultimately "Blades of Glory" lives or dies on the strength of Ferrell and Heder, and they come through like the champs that they are. The movie takes advantage of the disparities between their sizes, their ages, and perhaps most importantly, their personalities, with Chazz's outgoing and aggressive bonhomie contrasting wonderfully with the shy, timid Jimmy. Both men are superb physical comedians who don't mind looking foolish. That lack of self-consciousness is an ace in the hole, building laugh upon laugh. Sure, no one is going to remember "Blades of Glory" come Oscar Time, but it's not that type of movie. As simple popcorn entertainment, it really is cutting edge. If there was an Olympics for purely fun movies, this would skate away with one of those pretty medals. SEE THIS !!!! Another Guaranteed Comedic Success !!!!Read full review
Jimmy MacElroy (Jon Heder) and Chazz Michael Michaels (Will Ferrell) are ice skating champions until they tie for first place one day and get into a fight on the podium. They get banned for life from figure skating and wind up doing regular Joe-jobs. Chazz, a self-proclaimed sex-addict, gets gigs as a mascot on ice while Jimmy, the sensitive one, works as a clerk at a skate shop. It's only when one of Jimmy's obsessed fans brings to his attention a loophole; he was banned from single events and there's nothing prohibiting him from skating in pairs. He needs a partner and his old coach (played to perfection by Craig T. Nelson) thinks Chazz and Jimmy would make a great pair. Thus begins the road to the figure skating championship in pairs featuring two men together for the first time. An overall very funny film, more so than I expected. I'm a huge fan of Ferrell, not so much of Heder, but they had good chemistry together and their two different styles complemented each other quite well. Even if a few of the jokes fall flat, most of them are hilarious and the situations they find themselves in are so preposterous that you can't help but laugh. I was also impressed by the actors' skating abilities; they had to skate quite a bit (the acrobatics might have been done by stunt doubles but they still had to skate here and there) and they made it look easy. The supporting cast was comprised of regular Frat Pack members and friends such as Luke Wilson, Jenna Fischer, and Romany Malco. They all brought their funny lines to the part. Real-life skating champions also made their appearances; Brian Boitano, Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill, Nancy Kerrigan all had cameo roles, to name a few. The final part of the film was shot and takes place in my hometown of Montreal so I had a good time recognizing the various locations and venues. Not as funny as other Ferrell classics like Old School, Night at the Roxbury, or Anchorman, but still worth the price of admission. More like "it's so silly it's funny" kind of humor. Fans of Ferrell and/or Heder shouldn't be disappointed.Read full review
Will Farrel and Jon Heder have a particular type of humor that people either find funny or not. They remained true to their style in this movie, so if you liked previous movies then you will like this one. If you didn't like them before, don't waste your time here. Will plays Chazz, a sexed up, drunk up, in your face skater that makes his routine up as he goes. Jon plays Jimmy, a dainty, effeminate, picture perfect skater who plans everything out to the impossible degree. The two actors work very well together and pull off a perfect "fire and ice" comedy. Like most opposites, each character actually has a little of the other in himself: Chazz has the ultimate hairbrush and Jimmy scoots across the ice on his bare chest. The slap-stick act is balanced by the spoofs on the professional sport of skating. Many subtle jokes are made lampooning skaters that only those familiar with the sport will appreciate. The plot is hardly original and what happens next is certainly no secret. This in itself is a spoof on the dramas that normally cover this type of sporting event. By having such a lame plot, the producers are able to focus exclusively on the off the wall bizarreness that they are famous for. For example, when Jimmy asks what the words to a Black Eyed Peas song means, Chazz responds that "no one knows what it means, but it's provocative." I saw the movie while on a flight, and for me that was perfect. I found it amusing and it successfully helped me pass time when I had nothing else to do. But amusing was all it was for me-I do not plan on watching it again and it will not be found in my private collection. John Holland-author of The Necklace of TerrersylvanousRead full review
Always loved this movie and wanted to own this dvd. A lot of technical work went into producing this movie.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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