"Bone in zamboni!"

Melissa Lanouette

Blades of Glory review

“What have you got that they haven’t?”
“Matching sets of crotch luggage?”
After being expelled from men’s figure skating for fighting, Chazz Michael Michaels (Ferrell) and Jimmy Macelroy (Heder) wind up (through a series of not entirely believable events) skating together in the pairs bracket as the first male/male figure skating team. Rife with the type of jokes one would expect from a movie about figure skating, ‘Blades of Glory’ remains relatively fresh, largely based on the comic chemistry between Ferrell and Heder.

Will Ferrell is basically synonymous with juvenile humor. ‘Talladega Nights’, ‘Bewitched’, and ‘Anchorman’ all displayed this side of his acting talent. ‘Blades of Glory’ is no different; however, don’t let the crotch jokes deter you. Ferrell movies have a tendency of just being Ferrell movies, lacking any real back-up characters. In this movie, a well-rounded cast takes the focus off Ferrell specifically and presents an all-around funnier movie.

Starring opposite Ferrell is Jon Heder, best known from ‘Napoleon Dynamite’, who, for the first time, takes a step away from the Napoleon character he’s been rehashing in his last few films. Amy Poehler, of SNL fame, and Will Arnett round out the cast as the brother/sister team rivals of the main pair. Despite an ending that feels like they just stopped trying, and its shameless use of gay jokes, this film was thoroughly enjoyable. After walking out of ‘Talladega Nights’ at the theater, I got several elbows in the ribs to stop my unquenchable giggles, particularly during the first couples routine, and I’m planning to see it again tomorrow.