A good, underrated, sports comedy

Rating: 7/10 (28 September 2008)

"Blades of Glory" tells the unlikely story of a pair of arch-rival figure skaters, banned from singles competition, who join forces to exploit a loophole in the rules. As you might expect, this skating odd couple is confronted with numerous comical situations on their way to Olympic glory.
Like any successful comedy, this one has a well-assembled cast. Will Ferrell & Jon Heder make a good team and play off each other nicely. The requisite 'bad guys' are portrayed with relish by Will Arnett & Amy Poehler. Unfortunately, Jenna Fischer, in the romantic interest role, fails to maintain the high standard established by the rest of the stars. Well, at least we have Craig T. Nelson turning back the clock to his days on "Coach" and a few other notables in small roles (William Fichtner, Rob Corddry, etc...).
The story unsurprisingly follows the usual sports arc, that being: team isn't so good, team practices while bonding and, finally, team competes once again 'for all the marbles'. Thankfully, the laughs come steadily enough that the bare-bones plot is a non-issue. I did find it satisfying overall, though the over the top finale was a tad too unrealistic for my tastes. Not that what preceded it was exactly realistic but at least it adhered to the laws of physics.
From a technical standpoint the film is merely average, which is fine for a comedy since the performances should carry the picture. The skating scenes look passable but the actors are obviously restricted somewhat by their actual skill in that area. The soundtrack is fairly well chosen and the end credits feature a stereotypically earnest title song sung by Bo Bice.
I think that with a few small tweaks this film could have been a modern comedy classic. As it is, it's an enjoyable (though ultimately forgettable) romp that deserves better than the 6.6 IMDb rating that it has at the time of my writing.