Blades of Glory

By Ewen Hosie

The Will Ferrell formula is one that can be broken down into three distinct ingredients. The first of these is that his characters must always be highly successful braggarts with delusions of grandeur.

The second dictates that he will prove an unlikely hit with the ladies, (always) flocking to him in at least one scene.

The third of these criterions is that he must always face a crushing blow from reality, realising that he is not the genius/maestro/lothario (pick as applicable) that he once believed thus providing a dramatic crux upon which the film can advance. The touching Stranger than Fiction stamped this once watertight formula into the ground, but Blades of Glory proves that it couldn’t quite kill it off. His portrayal of the obnoxious Chazz Michael Michaels, bad boy of the Olympic figure skating world is typical of the Saturday Night Live alumni’s earlier work, a character whose cocky swagger and improvisational style on the ice wows the judges and leaves the ladies’ quivering.

His biggest rival, the technically precise and ever-so-slightly camp Jimmy MacElroy (Jon Heder), is the Yin to Michael’s Yang. Snatched from the orphanage at an early age by the enterprising arms of billionaire sports tycoon Danny MacElroy (William Fichtner), he is trained in a mechanistic Ivan Drago fashion to become a flawless skater. When both are forced to share the gold at the 2002 Winter Games a fight ensues leading to their banishment from the category, but a loophole allows for them to compete under the pairs division, much to the chagrin of creepily incestuous skater pairs champions Stranz and Fairchild van Waldenberg (an excellent Will Arnett and Amy Poehler).

The classic mismatch of two main characters that begin by disliking each other but then grow to appreciate each other over time is in full effect here, and for the most part Blades of Glory works well, with Jon Heder successfully shaking off his Napoleon Dynamite shtick in his role as straight man to Ferrell’s nonsensical outbursts. The physical comedy also, is a particular strong suit of Blades, with deft ice-skating sequences handled in a tongue-in-cheek manner by commercial directing team Josh Gordon and Will Speck.

If there is criticism to be levelled against the unpretentious Blades of Glory it can be found in its derivative nature. It really makes no attempt to take risks, and Ferrell apparently has no desire to pioneer a new comedic style, with many of his deliveries and mannerisms manifesting themselves in a near identical fashion to Talladega Nights or Anchorman.

Heder fares slightly better amidst Ferrell’s scenery-chewing performance, and he even finds time for a cute romantic subplot involving the competition’s little sister Katie van Waldenburg (played by Jenna Fischer from the American version of The Office).

All in all Blades of Glory is an entirely predictable but charming sports comedy fare. If you are already a fan of either of the two lead actors then you’re already set.