I’m not a huge fan of Will Ferrell, but since I liked his last two films (Stranger Than Fiction and Talladega Nights), I’ve sort of relented a bit and now don’t mind giving his stuff a chance. His most recent project, Blades of Glory, surpassed the $100 million mark during its initial release last spring, and actually received pretty good reviews, so I was relatively certain that I would like it. I did, although not as much as STF or TN.
Plot summary (with possible spoilers): Ferrell stars as Chazz Michael Michaels, a flashy, arrogant men’s figure skating champion. His archrival is Jimmy MacElroy (played by Jon Heder), who is the opposite of Chazz in every way possible. As the film opens, the two are competing at the same event. Their routines are vastly different, of course, but both garner the exact same score, resulting in a tie for the gold. During the medal ceremony, Chazz and Jimmy get into a brawl, which earns both of them lifetime bans from men’s figure skating.
With their careers seemingly at an end, both men try to find something else to do with their lives. Jimmy goes to work at a sporting goods store, while Chazz becomes a disgusting drunk who skates in a small-time Disney On Ice type of production.
But then a guy who has been stalking Jimmy for years finds a loophole in the skating federation’s rules. Although Jimmy and Chazz can’t skate in any men’s singles events, nothing would prevent them from participating in the pairs events.
At first, both men have their doubts about working and skating together, but they soon see that it’s their only shot to get back into the sport. The rest of the film then deals with Chazz and Jimmy training together, slowly growing to respect each other, and then finally becoming real friends. There’s also a subplot involving a rival skating pair, as well as a love interest for Jimmy.
My Reaction: Whenever a comedy is based around a single joke (in this case, two polar opposite males coming together as a figure skating pair), the filmmakers run the risk of the joke wearing out its welcome within 30 minutes or so. I’m sure you’ve seen your fair share of movies that fall into this trap. But Blades of Glory manages to go the distance with the laughs, making it a worthwhile rental for your next movie night.
Will Ferrell played his usual obnoxious-yet-likable character, while Heder was also on familiar ground with his take on Jimmy as a defiant dork. Neither performance was particularly noteworthy, but at least they got the job done. I thought the brother-sister skating pair were pretty annoying, but Jenna Fischer was good as Jimmy’s would-be girlfriend.
Other than that, I don’t really have too much to say about this movie. It was reasonably funny despite the outlandish plot, and didn’t get derailed by too many minor storylines. Blades of Glory was predictable every step of the way, and yet it was still enjoyable, so I give it 3 stars out of 5.