Mediocrity on ice

Rating: 3/10 (3 September 2007)

** out of **** stars
(long sigh) With Blades of Glory you get exactly what you'd expect: Napoleon Dynamite and Ron Burgandy on Ice. Will Ferrell, once again, is cast as a character with an outlandish ego who is unashamed of his bravado. Remind you of anyone? And Heder? Set comfortably as the geeky shadow behind that bravado. A few laughs? Absolutely. Have we seen this plot before? Surely. Even the casting of the legendary skater Scott Hamilton doesn't come as a surprise. Peggy Fleming and Dorothy Hamill have (thankfully) non-speaking cameos. Let's keep adding those cliché ingredients to make another mediocre comedy: the pretty love interest, the kooky adversaries, the domineering coach, etc, etc. Here are the comedies that come to mind with this same old formula: Dodgeball. Anchorman. Kicking and Screaming. You get the picture. Ferrell, remember Stranger than Fiction? You were going in the right direction with that.
If you want another Big Mac or Burrito Supreme, watch Blades. I myself have tasted these before. I'd rather not choke on something familiar. I'll move on to something else and swallow it down nicely.