Blades of Glory skates well, but falls short of first place

April 2, 2007 —

Blades of Glory, the latest Will Ferrell extravaganza, is a movie replete with onscreen talent but tainted by an obvious lack of creativity and the improvised, anything-goes magic of Anchorman and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. While it falls short, there are enough funny moments to make Blades of Glory at least passable.

Will Ferrell stars as Chazz Michael Michaels, a stupendously named and stupendously gifted figure skater who is a self-proclaimed sex addict and concludes his skating runs by spewing gouts of flame from his extended arms. His ridiculous and maverick performances are offset by the traditional and technical ones of his arch-rival, Jimmy MacElroy, played by Jon Heder, who is of course famous for his performance as Napoleon Dynamite.

After the two of them tie for the gold medal, they have a well-executed scuffle which lands them each lifelong bans from competition. Fortunately for them, though, Jimmy has a stalker who informs him of a loophole in which they could return to competition - but only as a pair.

And so the world is introduced to its first male-male figure skating pair in top competition, and they are set to attempt an upheaval of the current champions, played by real-life husband and wife pair Will Arnett and Amy Poehler, who have a veritable monopoly on pairs competition. Interestingly, despite possessing the surname Van Waldenberg, they are cast as Americans, presumably to avoid an onscreen America vs. any other country rivalry.

With the same people who played Ron Burgundy, Napoleon Dynamite, and Gob from the amazing Arrested Development, not to mention Craig T. Nelson of Coach, how could anything go wrong? It's hard to say where Blades of Glory initially fails, but it's clear that there is something missing. While I hate to say it, as a staunch supporter of the movie Napoleon Dynamite, which was an excellent film both above and below the surface, I think Jon Heder is a big part of the problem.

It isn't that Heder has no onscreen charisma; it's that his unusual and quirky mannerisms only really seem to fit certain roles, and more importantly, only fit with certain other actors. When his calm demeanor boils over into a childlike tantrum, it has already been outplayed by Ferrell's nonstop madness. Jon Heder doesn't belong in this movie, and with such a prominent role, he inevitably helps it dig holes.

I'd be more interested in seeing a figure skating pair of Ferrell and Arnett. Arnett plays the clueless bad guy better than almost any comedy actor, and it would be amazing to see the scenes set up between Ferrell and Heder played out by Ferrell and Arnett instead. As it is, they get the best extended scene in the movie anyway, a grueling chase scene all done while wearing skates, the majority of which does not take place on ice. There are a lot of laughs in Blades of Glory. The aforementioned chase scene is one of them. There are also moments where nothing much happens, but Will Ferrell is just allowed to do his thing, which also works. Only to a level though. Ferrell has played plenty of flamboyant, self-immortalizing characters in the past, but it seems like he never fully gets the opportunity to let loose here.

There are also quite a few scenes which only sort of work. Scenes like a phone conversation in which other people on each end of the line are telling the speakers what to say warrants chuckles, but never get good enough to merit real laughter.

It's a shame that with all of these capable comic actors put together, Blades of Glory couldn't add up to something great. But maybe that is part of the problem, and some more low-key performances were needed to allow the wackier stars to shine. Planned out a little better, this movie really could have been something glorious.