Blades
of Glory
is one of many films which is funnier in theory than in practice.
Coming off such comedic successes as Talladega Nights
and Napoleon Dynamite, stars Will Ferrell and Jon
Heder promise a gorgeous triple axle as an on-screen duo,
but don't quite make the landing. While Blades provides
quite a few laughs, it isn't anywhere near as clever or lingeringly
hilarious as one would expect.
Trained from
early childhood, superstar figure skater Jimmy MacElroy
(Heder) is the definition of grace and beauty on the ice.
His nemesis, sex-addicted, rock-'n'-rolling Chazz Michael
Michaels (Ferrell) heats up the ice with his overwhelming
improvisations and flaming hands. When the competitors
get banned from professional skating for fighting at an
event, their lives are all but ruined. Lucky for both men,
Jimmy's stalker Hector (Nick Swardson) discovers a loophole
in the rules that will allow them to return to the
rink, but they must do so as a team, in couples competition.
Overcoming their rivalry and learning to work together,
Chazz and Jimmy set out (with the help of "Coach"
Craig T. Nelson) to win gold over brother/sister pairs team
Stranz and Fairchild Van Waldenberg (Will Arnett and Amy
Poehler).
Heder and Ferrell
are both widely recognized comedic geniuses, both able
to create and become hilarious personas, and each could
carry a whole film virtually on his own. But place them
together and they each seem to lower their performance
quality to compensate for the other's presence. Ferrell,
normally a master of goofy characters, doesn't quite hit
the mark in his portrayal of Chazz, who lacks the individuality
that made his Ricky Bobby and Ron Burgundy so memorable.
At the same time, Heder seems to be recreating his breakout
role of Napoleon Dynamite sans glasses and sporting a leotard
and volumized wig. Many of his mannerisms and facial expressions
are the same as his trademark nerd. The film suffers
as a result, unable to distinguish itself from the shadow
of its stars' past successes.
Some of the most
humorous elements in the film were the numerous cameos
by famous skaters, such as Nancy Kerrigan, Brian Boitano,
Scott Hamilton, Dorothy Hamill, Peggy Fleming and Sasha
Cohen. Not so much because they did anything particularly
funny, but because seeing so many familiar faces involved
in a project poking fun at their sport is always fun. At
the same time, the film relies heavily on namedropping,
and while similar to cameos in theory, the references
to other skaters who don't appear in the film, like Michele
Kwan and Oksana Baiul, gets old very quickly.
Aside from these
simple comedic tactics, the film depends almost exclusively
on the perceived awkwardness of two male skaters working
as a pair. Most of the movie's jokes hinge on forced homoeroticism
or incestuous innuendo (in the case of the Von Waldenbergs).
While I found myself laughing at many of these instances,
I also felt somewhat guilty doing so. I have always had
a problem with a joke in which homosexuality,
or someone being taken for gay because of their participation
in stereotypically gay activities, is the punchline.
The film can justify a few of these jokes at first, as
the characters themselves seem to be taken aback by their
intimacy on the ice, but after a very short time, the filmmakers
have to provide something more.
One of the largest
problems with the film, in my opinion, is that Ferrell
wasn't involved in the creation of the character or the
jokes in the film. With a team of writers (and who knows
how many uncredited rewriters) the film lacks a cohesive
throughline and comedic tone, and both leads seems to
be just reading the lines given them, without much inspiration
or personal attachment to their roles.
I guess it's too
much to expect an actor to put forth a classic performance
each and every time he hits the screen, especially when
he excels in a comedic subgenre so rife with failures. It's
a testament to Heder and Ferrell that they could salvage
this film, which would otherwise have been a complete waste
of time. For fans of skating, it may be a bit too fake to
truly enjoy the on-ice acrobatics, but some of the costumes
and choreography are quite clever. I predict fans of Ferrell
will soon rate this among his best, though I will have to
quietly disagree. I'll stick to the real skaters, and Ferrell's
better roles when I get a craving for either.
