Blades Of Glory (2007)

Blades of Glory is the story of two rival Olympic ice skaters who are stripped of their gold medals after an on ice brawl and both banned from men's single competition permanently. However they find a loophole in the system that will allow them to compete as doubles, making first ever all male figure skating team.

Being a huge Will Ferrell fan i was looking forward to this, the previews were good, and it was on my top to see list for 2007. Though between this i had seen School for Scoundrels , which was okay but overall falls short. Not even a minor role by Sarah silverman (who i do like) was enough to help the movie. So after seeing this film , which also starred blades of glory star Jon Heder, i was growing ever worried about Blades of Glory. After seeing the film, i asked myself...why the hell was i worred!?

Honestly, i can't remember last time i laughed so much. I've made comments in the past about ferrell and fact he does the same type of movie. Guy at top of profession ends up at bottom of it and has to work way back up, and yes, its the same again. However Ferrell is so good at doing that arrogant, stupid guy thing that his repetition of roles is totally forgivable. Also, though i did enjoy Talladega Nights, i found some issues with it and is probably my least fave ferrell movie (but still very good) here he is back on more achorman territory in terms of character mannerisms. Jon Heder also does his dorky guy , slightly effeminate character , which though not as engaging as Ferrell is still a wellcomed contrast.

What i think confirmed for me it was a success was fact i could pick up to 8 scenes that were (for me anyway) laugh out loud and i want to revisit. Some include Ferrel's character making drunk phone calls to heder's character after a fall out including him drunkedly singing Aerosmith's "Don't wanna miss a thing" down the phone. A scene where Ferrell turns up drunk at his new job as a kids ice show performer (ok its not all ferrell drunk) oh the chase scene and the head falling scene.

All in all, Blades of glory is well worth a watch for any Ferrell fan. Sure its full of cliches and narrative conventions of this genre but hell, with the performances, takes it a cut above the rest. IMO better than Taladega Nights, as good as Anchorman. In fact i'm not fully focused on this review as i'm too busy laughing at the scenes as i remember them!