Blades of Glory
Rated: PG-13 While this men’s-pairs-figure-skating comedy doesn’t bring it’s A-game, the superb comic timing of its cast keep the laughs constant. 
Chazz Michael Michaels is a firey sex machine and Jimmy MacElory is an effiminate precision machine. They’re both mens figure skaters and they hate each others guts. This leads to an unfortunate incident where, after both winning the gold medal at the Winter Championship Games (thanks for nothing, Olympics!), a fight breaks out, setting the mascot on fire and bringing disgrace to all. The men are stripped of their medals and earn a lifetime ban from men’s figure skating. After three-and-a-half years of the personal disgrace that comes with working at a skating store and playing the wizard in a children’s ice capade (although I suppose that’s a bit redundant seeing as they don’t really have ice capades for adults, although they should), the two decide to team up into the unrestricted but forbidden world of pairs figure skating. Thankfully, the film isn’t one long gay joke about how two dudes touching each other in a sexual manner is awkward and weird (that film comes this summer with the gut-wrenchingly painful-looking Adam Sandler/Kevin James "comedy" I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry). However, I can’t really describe my favorite moments either because the film isn’t very memorable. What elevates the material is the uncanny comic talents of Will Ferrell, Will Arnett (GOB on Arrested Development), Amy Poehler (of SNL), and Jenna Fischer (Pam Beasley on The Office). I don’t mention Jon Heder because while he’s good, he never really goes beyond the innate effiminate weirdness of his character. It’s the delivery of his co-stars and their improvisational bravado that get the laughs. You know what to expect from Ferrell and Heder, but if you’re not familiar with the work of the supporting cast, then you’ll definitely be hoping for bigger roles for them in the future. Blades of Glory may not be the modern comedy classic of Anchorman, attain the popularity of Napoleon Dynamite, or reach the box office total of Talladega Nights, but it will keep you laughing for ninety minutes even if you don’t remember why a minute after you leave the theatre. Words by |