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Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #358 in Movie
- Released on: 2008-02-29
- Running time: 94 minutes
Customer Reviews
Silly humor.
Anyone who has seen a Will Ferrell movie knows that his movies aren't meant to be taken seriously. Mix that with the weirdly funny Jon Heder from Napolean Dynamite, you know that this movie is perfect for a few laughs.
So what's this movie about? Of course it's about ice skating but what would a Will Ferrell movie be without a crazy storyline? Blades of Glory places two gold medal skaters face to face when they are banned from ice skating after a fight between the two. They find a loophole in the rules and ultimately learn that they can still compete in the pairs division. Two men skating together? Should be interesting.
Let's talk about the positives first. As I already mentioned, this movie contains two of the funniest (or should I say stupidly funniest) actors out there. Jimmy, who is played by Jon Heder, was adopted at a young age and was basically forced into skating. He became a pro and was known for his beautiful, graceful moves on the ice. Chazz, played by Will Ferrell, is Jimmy's complete opposite. Chazz is sex-crazed and he incorporates sexy moves into his routines. Other interesting actors of note are Amy Poehler who plays half of Chazz and Jimmy's enemies, Jenna Fischer as Miss Poehler's sister, and there are even some appearances by well known skaters such as Nancy Kerrigan and Scott Hamilton.
As for the jokes, you have to have a certain sense of humor to truly appreciate them. If you can't find humor in Jon Heder's character wearing a peacock outfit while emulating a peacock's moves, this movie may not be for you. I guess the funniest bits in the movie are when the characters say/do something ridiculous with a serious look on their faces. Overall, this movie is very entertaining.
And now for the negatives. Although this movie clocks in at just about an hour and a half, I still felt as though it was really short. This could be because much of the scenes were randomly thrown in just for laughs and not having to do with the plot so I was left wanting more. Yeah, there was a general plot but it seemed a bit thrown together. And I understand that movies such as this aren't supposed to "wow" the audience but it should at least have a turning point/climax to keep you entertained. I guess the writers just assumed the audience cared more about silly humor than following through with the storyline.
Don't get me wrong, this movie isn't horrible. But I personally think it's good only for a few laughs. Nothing more. If you must see Blades of Glory, I suggest renting it. If I could, I would have given this movie 3.5 stars but I don't think it's worthy of 4 stars.
Perfecting the Will Ferrell Formula
Blades of Glory spins a delightful yarn about two feuding figure skaters who, having been banned from the sport for fighting during an awards presentation, must team together in order to continue competing and restore their credibility. Will Ferrell plays a hairy-chested manly man who is outwardly tough and sexually crazed but turns to often-hilarious binge drinking to ease the pain from his deep insecurities, and Jon Heder plays Napoleon Dynamite playing a fay, orphaned skating wunderkind.
So, you have an idea of what to expect. However!, do not dismiss this movie as more of the same, because, while it is more of the same, it's more of the same done exceptionally well. Ferrell's lines are delivered with precision and laser-guided timing and Heder is actually very well suited to play the girl of the pair. The bottom line is, the setup provides ample opportunities for these two to play off of each other, and the movie nails nearly every chance they get. The skating scenes feature just enough homoerotic INNUENDO! to keep the most immature of us amused and there's some solid physical comedy to boot.
They really use the setting to its full potential, successfully skewering everything from Olympic mascots to ________ on Ice shows. If writing funny scenes containing these things is shooting fish in a barrel, Blades of Glory just launched the barrel into the sun and then blew up the sun anyway for good measure. Drawbacks are minor, thankfully. The movie hits a minor rough patch transitioning between plots point but generally moves along at a much better clip than either Anchorman or Talladega Nights. In fact the movie just plain kicked Talladega Nights` tail. The soundtrack is a regrettable non-factor, with the exception of the songs actually used for the skate performances. Which are superb.
The one other gripe to be had is the misuse of some great comedic actors. The cast features a fool-proof bit performance from Will Arnett but doesn't quite take advantage of Amy Poehler or Craig T. Nelson. Rob Corddry continues the losing streak he began on The Winner by doing a poor imitation of Jack Black. See also: Wasted cameos. Team Pam will be happy to know that Jenna Fischer essentially plays Pam, except this Pam is in a wonderful universe in which Pam wears frilly lingerie.
So if that isn't enough for you to see the movie, fans of lingerie, you may very well enjoy it for myriad other reasons. There are explosions, chase scenes, intrinsically funny skating outfits and some surprisingly well done genre satire. Don't bother if you're annoyed by The Will Ferrell Role or overblown, perpetually devolving pop comedies, but do bother if you want to have some laughs at the cost of elitist nerds calling you a conformist lame College Guy. It was better than I expected and not at all a bad way to spend a night.
some very funny parts...
there was definately some very funny parts. i thought that it was pretty good for a comedy. a little cheesy.
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