Blades of Glory is Josh Gordon and Will Speck’s shot at pro figure skating. Even though it is full of gay references, there is nearly no good skating, and reality seems to have been flushed down the toilet, the movie has a good feeling about it.
When Chazz Michael Michaels (Will Ferrell) and Jimmy MacElroy (Jon Heder) tie for a gold medal at the winter games, they get into a fistfight on the podium. They are stripped of their medals and banished from Men’s Figure Skating. Luckily there are two loopholes that will allow them to skate in Pairs Skating and skate together. They don’t understand the lengths Fairchild (Amy Poehler) and Stranz Van Waldenberg (Will Arnett) will go to keep their gold medal position.
Will Ferrell sexes up Chazz Michael Michaels, the lone wolf of figure skating. Ferrell’s performance left me rolling my eyes and smiling. Jon Heder makes Jimmy MacElroy’s numerous neuroses enjoyable. His germaphobia, precise movements and childlike demeanor are well blended by Heder. Together, Ferrell and Heder give a comical tension to most of the scenes in the movie. Sure, the movie is packed with childish gay jokes that aren’t funny, but the interpersonal strain is enjoyable. The movie also has a pretty charming love story sub-plot.
The costumes in the movie are pretty fun. Julie Weiss, Blades of Glory’s costume designer, makes no shortage of funny costume decisions. In the beginning, Jimmy MacElroy wears a blue suit with a peacock head on his hand. At the end, there is a surprising little detail to the costumes that makes the performance especially fun.
This movie must have been a proper irritation for actual figure skaters. Even I could see there was a considerable difference in ability between the actors and real figure skaters. I didn’t expect them to become world-class skaters but it is annoying when you can see the faces of the “stunt figure skaters.” There is one scene in particular, you can see the double’s face and it looks like his wig is going to fall off. They can afford two directors but they couldn’t afford ten more bobby pins? When the actors can’t actually do what is physically necessary to complete the story, the attention to editing is important, even in stupid comedies. It would have been nice to see some quality figure skating at all during Blades of Glory. Even the scenes with stunt skaters are not particularly well choreographed or exciting, and the scenes are short.
The story is simple and doesn’t require too much thinking on the part of the audience. This movie has five writers to make a plot a six-year-old could come up with. Jeff Cox, Craig Cox, Busy Philipps, John Altschuler, and Dave Krinsky either each suck so badly they couldn’t come up with a more complex plot between them or they spent their time ripping each other’s rewrites apart. I just don’t understand why there needs to be six writers on a movie like this. As if five writers weren’t enough, the movie has two directors, Josh Gordon and Will Speck. I’m still scratching my head about why this movie has as much bureaucracy as the California school system.
Look, I don’t know exactly why I liked this movie. I am not a fan of the “stupid comedy.“ Blades of Glory definitely falls into that category. Even though it isn’t my usual cup of tea, I really had fun. Maybe I was grumpy and just needed a little pick-me-up or was feeling particularly vulnerable to ridiculous situations, but I caught myself giggling numerous times. I don’t think anyone will file this one as best movie of the year, probably not even stupid comedy of the year, but maybe stupid comedy of the week. I don’t suggest this movie if you want to get the best cinematic bang for your buck. I do suggest this movie if you have had a hard day and want to veg out a little.
"Blades of Glory" opens April 30, 2007 and is rated PG13. Comedy. Directed by Josh Gordon, Will Speck. Written by Jeff Cox, Craig Cox. Starring Amy Poehler, Craig T Nelson, Jenna Fischer, Jon Heder, Will Arnett, Will Ferrell.
