Deslizando a la gloria

I wasn't expecting much from this movie for two reasons: a) Heder hasn't done anything funny since Napoleon Dynamite and b) I thought Will Ferrel's shtick would start to run thin. Both actors played the type of character I expected from them. Heder gave something similar to the Napoleon Dynamite character and Will Ferrell was Will Ferrell. What I didn't expect was the humor. Ferrel carried the show and played the funniest character by far, but Heder didn't drag him down like I thought he would and the two worked well together. Heder was Jack Lemmon to Ferrell's Walter Matthau.

As far as the supporting cast, Poehler and Arnett were good as the Machiavellian doubles team that are the skating rivals to Ferrell and Heder's characters, but no one else really stood out. Jenna Fischer was lackluster as Heder's love interest and Craig T. Nelson did not make for a funny or interesting character either. Two people I thought would have been able to shine in larger roles were Andy Richter and Rob Corddry. Both are funny guys, much funnier than Nelson or Malco, and were underutilized in this film.

The humor was low brow to be sure, just like in every other project Ferrell does, but I happen to like that sort of humor, so I enjoyed it.

I first saw this movie on a plane flight. Oh dear ! My hysterical laughter didn't go down too well with some fellow passengers. I had an interest in the movie from the start having been an ice skater some years ago. What a great mix of pure comedy and outrageous farce this movie is. Two guys who hate each other forced to make a skating-pair. Ferrell is full on, Heder is petulant. It's clash of two diverse personalities forced to perform as a pair on ice. It is so very funny and ranks as my 2nd favourite comedy movie of all time after "Airplane" (1980)

In the world of male solo figure skating, two US giants are ahead of the pack. Jimmy MacElroy was raised from a boy with the single goal of being a champion, with the millions of champion-maker Darren MacElroy behind him. Chazz Michael Michaels is the opposite of MacElroy's perfect presentation – a rough and ready man with a sex addiction but yet undeniable talent. The two have battled for years but things come to a head when they share gold medal position. On the podium a fight breaks out between them and the pair are banned for life from the sport. Years later they are both doing nothing but getting by until MacElroy's stalker approaches them with a loophole in the sport rules – they are only banned from single events, not pairs.

Undeniably silly this thing but yet quite pleasing at the same time. We have seen this sort of sports spoof several times over the last few years and the quality has ranged with some highs in Dodgeball but others not totally working as well such as Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Blades of Glory falls more in the latter camp as it is not brilliant but still has fun if you are in the mood. Considering the idea behind it I was rather surprised that it was not constantly off-the-wall material but mostly it had me amused throughout. The plot is straightforward but serviceable. The skating is outrageously silly (although some of the effects do push it) and overblown in a carefree way. The script does have some really good lines but too often I found myself looking for more than the dialogue was giving me.

Ferrell is good in the main role and he works the fact that, ignoring everything else, he is still a very unlikely figure skater. Heder is very much secondary to him because of the differences in the characters but he is good value for what he gets to do. Arnett and Poehler do tend to steal any scene that they are in, while Fischer is an enjoyable addition. Fichtner, Nelson and others fill out the cast well. As with Dodgeball, I enjoyed the commentators and the script does make good sport of them, but I would have liked them to have been more a part of the film than they were.

Overall though, despite it not being the most hilarious or clever thing you'll ever see, it does have plenty of laughs and did consistently amuse me even it did lack that many really good moments.

I saw the preview several days ago and figured it was just another case of, "put the funniest parts of the movie in the trailer to hook the public and then be disappointed later", but I was surprised and the comedic cohesion between John H. and Will F.. The dialouge was some of the funniest I've heard in awhile and the physical comedy was timed perfectly. This is not just another mediocre performance from Heder and Will that we have grown accustomed to. This movie really delivers and there were plenty of great cameos. Including Jenna Fisher from the office and even Nancy Carrigan. If you truly have an eye for good comedy, they you'll love this movie. I think it was the best comedy I have seen in awhile.

What can I say? The whole theater laughed during this whole movie. There were a few cheap laughs and some very obvious jokes thrown in, but the delivery was par for the course as far as Farrell is concerned. In other words, if Farrell is your kind of comedic character, you'll love this movie. If, say, Hugh Grant is your idea of a comic character, you'll probably hate this movie. Will Farrell's character was essentially Ron Burgundy on ice skates, which is a great idea. Ron Burgundy was, of course, the embodiment of the so-called "alpha-masculine" persona of the '70s and '80s. - unabashedly proud, sexist, and narcissistic. Put him into a sport that in many peoples' eyes in inherently effeminate and you've got a sure-fire crowd pleaser.

Jon Heder was a little less Napolean Dynamite-ish in this movie. He is still the same innocent, ignorant, nerdy, awkward person as in his debut character. That said, he is a little more image-aware in this character, and as the movie progressed I saw less Napolean Dynamite (a major problem in his career until now, IMO), and I saw more of this "other" character. Heder's character is hard to describe other than to say it is Napolean Dynamite combined with Derek Zoolander - a lovable ignorant narcissist. Put that on ice skates opposite Ron Burgundy the figure skater and you have 93 minutes of great fun.

What really makes this film work is Farrell's willingness to do anything in a movie and Heder's reluctance to do such things. They are polar opposites as far as comedic actors and their comedic emphasis are concerned. But those two personalities really work well to complement each other on screen in this film. 8/10