Take a unique spin on an already strange sport, add two A-list character actors and the co-directors of Geico’s Caveman commercials, and you get a surefire formula for comedic success, right? Well, not really.
Blades of Glory, co-starring Will Ferrell (Stranger Than Fiction) and Jon Heder (School for Scoundrels), is the latest film to combine sport and comedy – this time tackling the manliest (or not) of all sports: figure skating. Co-directors Will Speck and Josh Gordon take their first shot at feature-length film with Blades, perhaps the reason for the film’s mere 93-minute length. In a conference call with Diversions, Heder discussed his and Ferell’s roles.
Blades of Glory follows the sports-comedy tradition of using a faux-television broadcast to help guide the story, with real-life NBC Olympic correspondent Jim Lampley and figure skating legend Scott Hamilton playing announcers who serve as the film’s narrators. The two introduce the audience to “skating’s little orphan awesome” Jimmy MacElroy (Heder) and “skating’s outlaw” Chazz Michael Michaels (Ferrell).
MacElroy and Michaels are the kings of the male figure skating world – and they just happen to be polar opposites who despise each other. MacElroy, an orphan adopted by Darren MacElroy (William Fichtner), a former horse breeder who now breeds champion orphan athletes, is skating’s golden boy – young, with a golden blonde hairdo and a wardrobe heavy in baby blues. For Heder, playing MacElroy was a bit of a stretch.
“Of all the characters I’ve played, he’s the least I’ve connected with,” Heder said. “He’s this Olympian athlete, which I’ve never aspired to be.”
In contrast, Michaels is the middle-aged, overweight bad boy. He rides alone and lives on a diet heavy on alcohol.
The plot follows a fairly basic outline. At the 2002 figure skating championships, MacElroy’s and Michaels’ respective routines earn identical scores, prompting a tie for the gold medal. Neither skater is happy with the decision, and they brawl on the ice. After the brawl, the National Figure Skating Association strips the two skaters of their medals and bans them from competitive skating for life. After the ban, each skater goes through his respective downfall, but because of a loophole in the ban, the two find they can still compete – albeit as a pair.
The pair enters the field for the 2006 championships to the chagrin of the defending brother-sister team of Stranz Van Waldenberg (Will Arnett, Arrested Development) and Fairchild Van Waldenberg (Amy Poehler, Saturday Night Live). Arnett and Poehler do a good job as the sadistic skating siblings, but it’s their characters’ sister, Katie Van Waldenberg (Jenna Fischer, The Office), who steals the show.
Katie is similar to MacElroy’s character: Her performance is a perfect mix of cute and timid, and in a scene where MacElroy and Katie go out on a date, the two kiss in what is a hilariously adorable embrace.
While both Heder and Ferrell play to their character’s strengths – and exaggerate to the extreme – it’s actually Heder who outshines Ferrell. Though Ferrell does what he does best as the cocky and ignorant Michaels, the performance is too reminiscent of Ferrell’s roles as Ron Burgandy in Anchorman and Ricky Bobby in Talladega Nights. At their core, these characters share too many characteristics and overexaggerations for Michaels to seem fresh.
Despite Ferrell’s predictable performance, Heder proves he’s slightly more than the dimwitted and off-kilter Napoleon Dynamite. Heder still plays a slightly awkward character, but his motivation makes sense in Blades: With skating as his entire life, MacElroy never had the opportunity to grow up.
Heder also holds his own as a true co-star to Ferrell, and it’s interesting to see Ferrell in a slightly diminished role. Ferrell provides the most laughs, which Heder admits, but that doesn’t mean he can’t beat Ferrell in skating ability.
“I’m not very competitive, but I take pride in my sportability,” Heder said. “[Ferrell] can do comedy circles around me, but I can do skate circles around him.”
And along that vein, Blades of Glory is a buddy comedy more than anything else. While it never really takes off as a classic, it isn’t a horrible movie, either. Blades’ main flaw, however, is that while all the actors give decent performances, the plot and jokes are fairly predictable and formulaic. Fans of the genre and of Ferrell should enjoy Blades for its usual stock of crude humor and great supporting cast, but the film lacks originality and enough quotable lines to be considered anything more than standard. No matter how many similarities the films share, Blades isn’t Anchorman – and it shows.
Contact reporter Rudi Greenberg at rudi.greenberg@gmail.com.
