Blades of Glory (2007)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Directors:

Josh Gordon
Will Speck

Writers (WGA):

Jeff Cox (screenplay) &
Craig Cox (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

30 March 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance | Sport

Tagline:

Kick Some Ice

Plot:

In 2002, two rival Olympic ice skaters were stripped of their gold medals and permanently banned from men's single competition. Presently, however, they've found a loophole that will allow them to qualify as a pairs team.

Plot Keywords:

Competition | Ice | Fight | Rivalry | Figure Skating

Awards:

3 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Will Ferrell	...	Chazz Michael Michaels
Jon Heder	...	Jimmy MacElroy
Will Arnett	...	Stranz Van Waldenberg
Amy Poehler	...	Fairchild Van Waldenberg
Jenna Fischer	...	Katie Van Waldenberg
William Fichtner	...	Darren MacElroy
Craig T. Nelson	...	Coach
Romany Malco	...	Jesse
Nick Swardson	...	Hector
Scott Hamilton	...	Sports Anchor
Andy Richter	...	Mountie
Greg Lindsay	...	Mountie
Rob Corddry	...	Bryce
Nick Jameson	...	PA Announcer
Tom Virtue	...	Floor Manager

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual humor, language, a comic violent image and some drug references.

Runtime:

USA:93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Ireland:15A | UK:12A | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Germany:6 | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba) | USA:PG-13 (certificate #43376) | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:M | Singapore:PG | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Finland:K-11 | Malaysia:U | Sweden:11 | Portugal:M/12 | Argentina:13 | Brazil:14 | South Korea:15 | France:Unrated | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Habitat 67, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Company:

DreamWorks SKG

Trivia:

Stranz and Fairchild plot to injure Chazz "below the knee and above the ankle", references the attack on Nancy Kerrigan prior to the 1994 Olympics.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: In the Denver arena you can see a small advertising billboard for Lise Watier, a small Montreal based cosmetic and perfume manufacturer, proving these scenes were shot in Montreal.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Darren MacElroy: [watching a young Jimmy skate at an orphanage] I'll take him.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs The Seven Year Itch (1955)

Soundtrack:

Hot Blooded

Better than I expected

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.