Blades of Glory
By Helen Cuthbertson, Blockbuster.co.uk
“I see you got fat.”
“I see you still look like a fifteen year old girl but not hot.”
Here is a film which is funny, fast-paced and engaging from the start. The brassy beginning acquaints us instantly with the story’s heroes: two likable and colourful caricatures from opposite ends of the spectrum. The amount of description necessary for this type of film is met, very comically, within these initial sequences – in fact, the introduction is one of the film’s most successful features.
“Awesome Orphan” Jimmy MacElroy (
Jon Heder,
Napoleon Dynamite) is a stereotypically sensitive, eternally fresh-faced golden boy, while “Ice-Devouring Sex-Volcano” Chazz Michael Michaels (
Will Ferrell,
Anchorman), is a chauvinistic and ego-centric, older sex symbol with whom the young MacElroy has always been in direct competition. Queue the subsequent parrying of one liners, with all the casual confidence and on-screen spark of two perfectly cast nemeses.
The film appears to parody that all-too-familiar U.S obsession with competition, as well as public fickleness over celebrities (applicable to both sides of the Atlantic). It also pokes fun at the cheesy sports, cliché ridden movies designed to put out would-be profound messages about hostility by using conflicting characters united in the same goal. Yet in true spoof style, the chosen contest couldn’t be further from classics such as
The Mighty Ducks or
Rocky. It’s not even
Space Jam; this film’s stadium is a figure- skating rink, with all the potential humour of bright and tight costumes combined with gloriously exaggerated pirouettes wrung dry for maximum impact.
In short, Will Ferrell plays a ballerina on blades.
However, MacElroy and Michaels soon become banned for life from singles’ figure skating, following a shameless scuffle in front of a packed crowd of families. MacElroy gets work as a sales assistant in a skate shop, while Michaels takes a role in a ridiculous skating pantomime titled, “Grublets on Ice.” In fact, the film is worth watching just for Ferrell’s drunken performance inside the head of an evil wizard costume, let alone the rest of it.
The main story develops when these two mutually aggressive figure skaters – having discovered a loophole which lets them enter as a team – learn to set aside their differences and complement one another as they endeavour to win that all-important dual gold medal. However, it soon transpires that there are even deadlier rivals in the doubles’ contest than each of them ever was: “I’m not a violent person but I would like to hold them down and skate
over their throats,” states callous opponent Fairchild Van Waldenberg (
Amy Poehler,
Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny).But conflict doesn’t just come in bleached blonde hair and Lycra; Michaels also fights vice in a briefly explored attempt to conquer sex addiction.
Meanwhile, MacElroy’s budding relationship with his cute and virginal first girlfriend (Jenna Fischer,
Slither) adds a romantic touch – forgoing the stomach-churning, clumsy kissing scene on a park bench. In fact this is one part of the film which reminds me of Heder’s best-loved character,
Napoleon Dynamite.
Directed by virtual unknowns, Josh Gordon and Will Speck, and penned by the equally unproven writing talents of Jeff and Craig Cox, I was pleasantly surprised at just how many funny moments there were in this film, though many can be attributed to Ferrell and Heder’s flawless comic timing. Still, I’m almost certain that we can expect to hear more from the Cox brothers in the not-to-distant future.
If it’s an uncomplicated, genuinely amusing comedy you’re after, then Blades of Glory is a fairly safe bet. The characters are delightfully 2D, and the plot is as predictable as you could ask for when there’s a beer or five on the go. However, the actors, writers and directors have still managed to bring a little originality to a near-exhausted genre of comic capering, verging on pure slap-stick. If you enjoyed
Anchorman and
Talladega Nights, this is the nearest thing to either of those films on recent release. I had never before rated Will Ferrell especially, but he’s grown on me since that fantastic performance in
Stranger Than Fiction, which is not at all like the entertaining farce that is Blades of Glory, but equally enjoyable for different reasons. Compare the two and be surprised at just how adaptable Ferrell has proven himself to be.
Also Try:
Talladega Nights
Stranger Than Fiction
Anchorman
Napoleon Dynamite