Very funny, very silly

Rating: 8/10 (25 November 2007)

I skip most current comedies because the humor is geared to the lowest common denominator, and I prefer the screwball comedies of the '30s and the more sophisticated comedies. So normally I wouldn't have seen "Blades of Glory" except that I am a figure skating fan. It's the story of two top American figure skaters, Chazz and Jimmy (played by Will Ferrell and John Heder), two bitter enemies, who, after a fight on the winners podium are stripped of their medals and banned from skating. Jimmy ends up working in a sports shoe store and Chazz wears a costume in a children's' skating shoe. Jimmy's stalker finds a notation in the rule book that indicates that he only can't re-enter the mens single competition. It says nothing about pairs. Unable to find a female partner, Jimmy's old coach hooks him up with the macho, drunken Chazz Michael Michaels, who was skating's bad boy.
This is a very funny film with good acting, good characterizations, amazing skating, and a lot of slapstick. Particularly if you're a figure skating fan and have followed it over the years, you will appreciate the enthusiasm and seriousness of the commentators, in particular, Scott Hamilton. I have no idea how he kept a straight face, but it made the film even funnier. The routines, the costumes - the whole parody of the skating world is perfect. I especially liked the Van Waldenbergs' irreverent routine based on the JFK-Marilyn Monroe romance, which begins with Kennedy saying "Ich bin ein Berliner" and has Marilyn, in her famous white dress with the halter top, popping pills and posing as she did over the street grate in "The Seven Year Itch." HILARIOUS.
The references to skating stars like Michelle Kwan, who supposedly wanted to marry the Will Ferrell character, Oksana Baiul (who is colder than dry ice? OKSANA) and Kristy Yamaguchi was especially appreciated, as was seeing Brian Boitano, Dorothy Hamill, Peggy Fleming and Nancy Kerrigan in the film.
It was one laugh out loud moment after another. Even if this type of movie with its sporadic vulgarity and sex jokes isn't for you, if you've been a fan of figure skating in the past 10 years and remember the Nancy-Tanya debacle, you will enjoy "Blades of Glory."