Olympic-Sized Freakshow
Blades of Glory is a Skating Nightmare

I'm sure the pitch went something like this: "Two rival men's figure skaters must put aside their differences to win the couple's skating championship." "No." "One of the dudes is Will Ferrell." "Okay, we'll do it." That's the only explanation that I have for how a film like Blades of Glory could ever get made. The inane comedy of men figure skaters is an unbelievable sophomoric film that (against anyone's better judgment) actually makes people laugh.

Blades of Glory
Chazz (Will Ferrell, left) and Jimmy (Jon Heder) go for the gold in Blades of Glory. (Paramount, 2007)
Directed by: Josh Gordon and Will Speck
Written by: Jeff Cox & Craig Cox
Starring: Will Ferrell, Jon Heder, Will Arnett, Amy Poehler, Jenna Fischer, William Fichtner, and Craig T. Nelson

Rated PG-13 (for crude and sexual humor, language, a comic violent image and some drug references)
Running time: 93 min.

FilmGuru's Rating : 5 out of 10.

Jon Heder stars as Jimmy MacElroy, an orphaned boy who is given a home and trained to be a figure skater. His arch-rival on the ice is a bad-boy named Chazz Michaels (Will Ferrell), whose testerone-dripping performance is the antithesis to Jimmy's graceful ballet on the ice.

When the two competitors have a public confrontation, they are barred forever from competing. Their lives spiral into an abyss, each of them hitting personal lows, until a stalker-fan of Jimmy's shows him a loophole. Jimmy can skate professionally again if he does so in the couples division. The only problem is, he needs his old nemesis to be his partner.

Complicating matters are the reigning couples champions the Van Waldenbergs, a brother and sister team with Boris and Natasha-like villainy. Amy Poehler and Will Arnett play Fairchild and Stranz Van Waldenberg as child stars gone bad, who control their little sister Katie (Jenna Fischer) by making her feel responsible for the death of their parents.

The absurd story aside, Blades of Glory is a semi-amusing film. This is comedy the Will Ferrell way, where everything is over the top. The two men aren't just figure skaters, they are polar opposites. The competition isn't just about winning, it's about doing the most dangerous maneuver ever in order to win. The figure skating sequences are hilarious mock-ups, more parody than performance.

Rounding out the cast are supporting performances by William Fichtner as Darren MacElroy (Jimmy's adopted father) and Craig T. Nelson as the controversial coach who teaches Chazz and Jimmy to work together.

Fans of Heder and Ferrell are likely to enjoy Blades of Glory more than the average moviegoer. While I am a fan of Ferrell, Heder's style of comedy still misses with me. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the film enough to give it a modest recommendation.