Great stuff, Ferrell hits all moves

Rating: 8/10 (17 August 2007)

Thus far, if you look at his career, you can plainly see that Will Ferrell has largely appeared in two sorts of movies: those where he's given free reign, and those where he has to prop up the movie and stick rigidly to a script. Examples of the former would of course be Anchorman and Talladega Nights, both of them riotously enjoyable comedies where his improv skills go to town. Examples of the latter would be Bewitched, or The Producers, hardly films to write home about. It is a tremendous relief to say therefore that Blades of Glory, despite seemingly being knocked together very quickly after the wicked one-two punch of Talladega and the pigeon-hole evading Stranger Than Fiction, is just as funny as any other classic Ferrell film you can name and rightly deserves its place on his CV.
Of course, anyone who's familiar with his best work will find few surprises in the character of Chazz Michael Michaels, a pompous, sex-addicted figure skating champion who might as well be Ron Burgundy in a leotard, but when the film is this funny it's hard to complain. Just witness the montage sequence where Chazz keeps ringing his friend Jimmy's mobile phone, leaving increasingly stupid answer phone messages through the course of the night. Or the bad-taste but deliriously funny sequence where he visits a sex therapy group (complete with Luke Wilson cameo). It might not be much of a stretch, but he sure makes one hilarious ice-devouring sex tornado.
However, this isn't just a one man show and equally impressive is John Heder as rival-skater-turned-partner Jimmy MacElroy; a naive and idealistic foil to Michael's brash egotism. Heder plays Jimmy with just the right amount of innocence and awkwardness but somehow manages to avoid many similarities with a certain Idaho dwelling nerd. To his eternal credit, Heder isn't overwhelmed by Ferrell on screen either and the two's burgeoning friendship forms the basis of a lot of the laughs, as they share a natural camaraderie not unlike that which Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson handled so well in Wedding Crashers.
Backing them up is a reliable supporting cast of comedy regulars. Will Arnett appears alongside his wife Amy Poehler as a brother & sister skating team who share a disturbing, incestuous relationship that is even more ridiculous than the leads. Craig T. Nelson plays it straight faced as the stern, no-nonsense coach and even Romany Malco from the 40 Year Old Virgin appears for a brief role. Best of all though is Nick Swardson as Jimmy's obsessed stalker Hector, worshipping his hero by sending him cups of blood and promising to kill him one day. Furthermore, the set pieces come thick and fast, from the outlandishly homo-erotic skating scenes to a strong contender for cinema's most ridiculous chase sequence.
You could easily argue that playing the same character over and over again will eventually do more harm than good, but for those of us who still regularly quote Anchorman, Blades of Glory is a triumph. It's relentlessly stupid, packed with memorable dialogue and is another feather in the cap for Ferrell. More please.