Blades of Glory: Movie & DVD Review (2007)

8/25/2007 Posted by Admin

The funny new figure skating satire, "Blades of Glory," stars Will Ferrell as the alcohol-soaked, oversexed Chazz Michael Michaels, a man whose claim to fame are the flames that shoot out of his hands at the end of each routine (nice touch) and the alleged heat he packs in the bedroom (no comment).

He's on the downside of his career--he's packed on the pounds, he's a few years past his prime, he sports an outrageous mullet that he brushes "100 times a night"--but he still has a way with the ladies and especially a way with the blade.

Jon Heder ("Napoleon Dynamite") is uptight Jimmy MacElroy, a curious young man whose blond blowout is only upstaged by his dewy, bee-stung lips, the latter of which wouldn't look out of place in a springtime meadow.

He is the adopted child of a cold billionaire (William Fichtner) who has trained Jimmy from childhood to be a force on the rink. Jimmy achieved that, but to what end? When he and Chazz come to fisticuffs at the title competition that begins the film, Jimmy's father quickly disowns him when the sport bans Jimmy and Chazz for life.

Now, with each man adrift, they are convinced by Coach (Craig T. Nelson) to become what the scene never has seen--a male couple who enter the pairs competition. Due to a loophole, they're allowed to do so, but in order to win, they must overcome several obstacles.

First is their enormous animosity toward each other, which is white-hot formidable. Second are the challenges inherent in mastering the Iron Lotus, a dangerous move that, if not performed with absolute precision, is known to decapitate. Third is the evil brother-and-sister skating team of Stranz and Fairchild Van Waldenberg (Will Arnett and Amy Poehler), who see these two as such a threat, they use the charms of their meek sister, Katie (Jenna Fischer), to emotionally kneecap them.

From directors Will Speck and Josh Gordon, the team behind the Geico caveman ads, "Blades of Glory" is every bit as slight as it sounds, which is a virtue--it strikes just the right absurdist tone throughout.

Some of the laughs are inspired and big, and while you wish the movie was as cruel as you know the figure skating world really is, at least it isn't afraid of being silly, which is underscored with appearances by Brian Boitano, Nancy Kerrigan, Dorothy Hamill and Peggy Fleming. In a supporting role is Scott Hamilton, who whips himself into his usual excitable froth, but missing is Tonya Harding, who at this point in her boxing career--and her renewed intimacy with the law--really could have sent "Blades of Glory" soaring over its sea of sequins.

Grade: B+