By Isaiah Smith/entertainment editor
Jon Heder and Will Ferrell kick some ice in Blades of Glory, a hilarious look at the world of professional male figure skating.
Banned from the sport for fighting, the rival skaters find a loophole stating they can still compete—as a duo.
Jimmy McElroy, played by Heder, is a child prodigy adopted by a millionaire-businessman; he’s trained his whole life to be the world’s greatest figure skater.
McElroy is a by-the-books kind of technical performer, and his performance in a peacock-themed body-suit in the first-few minutes of the film is priceless.
Chazz Michael Michaels, played by Ferrell, is male figure-skating’s outlaw.
He honed his skills in the underground figure-skating scene in Detroit’s sewers, mostly improvising on the ice and using pyrotechnics.
Michaels trash-talks a lot toward McElroy, eventually leading to their disqualification because of a fight.
McElroy’s gay stalker, Hector, is brilliantly played by Nick Swardson, who somehow pulls off being the creepy, murderous, stalker of a male figure skater.
Hector is the only one obsessive enough to actually figure out a way to bring McElroy back onto the ice.
Craig T. Nelson plays the pair’s coach, who whips the pair into shape for the nationals.
I loved Nelson on Coach, and I like seeing him in a similar role again.
His amazingly serious view of figure-skating is hilarious and adds that comedic straight-man aspect to the training sequences.
Will Arnett and Amy Poehler portray the Van Waldenberg twins.
The fraternal twins scheme to take out the first same-sex skating duo in the history of the sport, hoping to stop them before the odd couple takes the gold medal from the top-ranking twins.
The twins add a funny dynamic as they guilt-trip their sister Katie into spying for them.
This movie reminds me a bit of Talladega Nights because it has the news-like lead-ins to the skating sequences as Nights used for the racing sequences.
I laughed all through this cool comedy.
The pained looks on Heder’s and Ferrell’s faces while they perform the up-close-and-personal pair-skating moves left me rolling with laughter.
Blades of Glory debuted at No. 1 on its opening weekend, which is no surprise because it is so funny. I love comedies like this that take a look at a weird sub-culture and portray it as insanely serious.
Another scene of note is a high-speed chase in ice skates that begins at full speed on the ice before stumbling and slipping its way through a convention center.
In the end, Blades of Glory is a typical situation comedy based around sports, but the male figure-skating angle is fresh and funny. I give this movie four stars.
Jon Heder and Will Ferrell in one comedy?
Sign me up!
