moderately amusing dopey comedy

Rating: 6/10 (7 October 2007)

In "Blades of Glory," Will Ferrell and John Heder play two rival figure skaters, Chazz Michael Michaels and Jimmy MacElroy, who are permanently banned from the sport when their gold medal tie results in a fisticuffs melee on the arena ice. After the men go their separate ways for awhile, Jimmy learns of a loophole in the rules which would allow them to return to skating but only if they compete in the doubles category. Even though the two men hate each other with the heat of a thousand white-hot suns and they would be the first all-male duo in the history of competitive skating, Chazz and Jimmy agree to bury the hatchet and take a stab at mounting a comeback. The fact that the two of them are complete opposites in terms of demeanor and style - Jimmy is a cupie-faced innocent while Chazz is a swaggering macho man, both on the ice and off - only adds to the absurdity.
"Blades of Glory" never aspires to be anything more than a dopey, crowd-pleasing, mainstream comedy, and, as such, it generally hits the mark. It's true that it runs out of comic steam from time to time and that it is more amusing when the two men are arch rivals than when they are the best of friends, but there are enough laughs to make the film decent fun for the not-too-critical viewer. Ferrell and Heder make an enjoyable comic team, while acting stalwart Craig T. Nelson provides just the right balance as their winning-obsessed coach. As the evil, self-absorbed sister-and-brother duo determined to sabotage the boys' chances, Amy Poehler and Will Arnett, fine comic actors under most other circumstances, are burdened here with having to bring to life two overly broad stereotypes. Despite their talents, that effort ultimately exceeds their grasp.
Special note should be made of the amazing CGI work, without which this film could never have been made. Even though we know none of these actors could possibly be doing any of these skating moves in real life, we are thoroughly convinced of its verisimilitude for the duration of the film. And the movie does a nice job lampooning all the snazzy graphics, corny biographical features, and sappy, self-important commentary that have become a staple of modern TV sports programming.