BLADES OF GLORY (2007)

TITLE
Blades of Glory

STARRING
Will Ferrell, Jon Heder, Will Arnett, Amy Poehler, Jenna Fischer, Craig T. Nelson,

WHAT THE BOX DOESN'T TELL YOU
Ok, so it's not the most ridiculous premise we've ever heard of: two rival male figure skaters (Heder and Ferrell) at their respective peaks are barred from competing in the sport solo as the result of an unforgivable outburst at the closing ceremonies. In an effort to remain practioners of their carefully honed craft, they enter into the world of pairs figure skating, which is dominated by a somewhat incestuous brother/sister duo (Poehler and Arnett). Um, alright when you state it as plainly as possible, it almost sounds plausible (which it is not) and of course, that description is giving the film credit for a lot of sainity, which the film is just incapable of delivering.

WHY I WOULD RENT IT AGAIN
I laughed, but not hard. I had mediocre expectations, they were met. I thought the casting was as good as it could be, it turned out it was. All in all, this is a pretty forgettable film that received quite a lot of attention for not a lot of anything special. There are comical moments, a trivial romance, and some generic good-overcoming-evil-type scenarios. Still, all we can say for certain is that Ferrell has a following, and if the studios won't hype a movie for him, they will. It's not his best performance by far, but Poehler, Arnett, and Nelson fair much better and we get to see them flex that muscle right above their funny bone. Heder is headed for permanent residence in typecast city. For those who don't know, his performances in The Benchwarmers and School for Scoundrels already set his trip in motion. We know Heder as a pansy, geek, and otherwise inept kind of guy; for the size of check he's cashing, he's probably okay with this typecast. I might rent it again, as a Blockbuster Favorites.

WILL MY GIRLFRIEND/BOYFRIEND LIKE IT?
Probably.

SPECIAL FEATURES
This is what Ferrell's movie do well. Don't miss the piece on the skater costumes or extended and deleted scenes.

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