by kellie abrahamson kabrahamson1@aol.com
In the sports world, figure skating is kind of a joke. The current forms of figure skating and American football both originated in the mid-19th century and yet only a half-a-dozen films have ever been made about the former. While skating, no doubt, takes a great deal more skill and precision than most would like to admit, it’s easy to find humor in the graceful moves and tight fitting, sequined costumes when compared to the testosterone-fueled sports Americans are drawn to. Blades of Glory, an outrageous comedy sends up figure skating in comedy. Chazz Michael Michaels (Will Ferrell) is the bad boy of men’s figure skating. Clad in tight leather pants and a cowboy hat, our introduction to this “ice-devouring sex tornado” at the 2002 World Winter Sport Games in Stockholm comes in the form of a swaggering rock routine complete with the skater licking the face of a fan and pyrotechnics. His biggest competition on the ice is his polar opposite, Jimmy MacElroy (Jon Heder), a flamboyant technical skater with a flair for costumes and a respect for the grace and elegance of the sport. The two compete head-to-head during the Stockholm competition only to tie for first, an unacceptable way to win for these fierce rivals. While receiving their medals side-by-side, Chazz and Jimmy come to blows, disgracing themselves and men’s figure skating in front of a worldwide television audience.
Three and a half years later, both men are nearly forgotten in the skating world. Jimmy toils away at a skate shop while Chazz has hit rock bottom, becoming a drunken performer in a children’s ice show and succumbing to his widely reported sex addiction. Things look bleak for the ice skating adversaries until Jimmy’s obsessed fan Hector (Nick Swardson) discovers a loophole in the rule books and alerts his hero. These two champions can, indeed, grace the ice again. The catch is they can only participate in the couples competition. After searching for a female partner and coming up short, Jimmy’s coach (Craig T. Nelson) has an unconventional solution. To get back on the ice and back on track, Chazz and Jimmy must set aside their differences and train to become the first same-sex couples team in skating history. But, between Chazz’s demons, Jimmy’s blossoming romance with the soft-spoken Katie (Jenna Fischer) and the devious plotting of Stranz and Fairchild Van Waldenberg (Will Arnett and Amy Poehler), their only real competition, it will be an uphill battle for skating’s oddest couple.
Blades of Glory is now available on DVD. The single-disc release is surprisingly heavy on the extras. First up is “Return to Glory- The Making of Blades.” At first glance, this featurette seems like your standard making-of supplement, but it gradually becomes funnier and funnier as the minutes tick by. The main cast is interviewed in full costume and gives off-the-wall answers to the usual questions and reacts in varying and hilarious ways to some of the more bizarre questions. This nearly 15-minute long extra is almost worth the cost of a rental all by itself. The cast gets a tad more serious (but not by much) in “Celebrities on Thin Ice” and “Cooler than Ice: The Super-Sexy Costumes of Skating,” where they discuss the skating training they went through and the outrageous costumes seen throughout the film. A departure from reality can be found in both “Arnett and Poehler: A Family Affair” and “Hector: Portrait of a Psychofan.” In the former, real-life married couple Arnett and Poehler jokingly discuss their lives together and the production of the film as it related to them. Fans of either of these respected TV veterans will especially enjoy this amusing 6-minute short. Nick Swardson channels his character Hector, during “Portrait of a Psychofan.” The final featurette is “20 Questions with Scott Hamilton,” a five-minute interview that gets increasingly silly as it goes on. Hamilton is no comedian, but he holds his own here. Four deleted scenes grace the disc, two of which are actually worth watching. In one scene, Chazz flashes back to his youth and reveals why he really hates Jimmy. The other is a hysterical look at Chazz writing a song called ‘Blades of Glory’ on an 80s-era keytar. American Idol loser Bo Bice takes a more serious stab at Chazz’s song in the next extra, a music video for a more polished version of ‘Blades of Glory.’ Next up is a 2-minute gag reel which mainly consists of the actors slipping on the ice and flubbing their lines. Far more amusing is “Alternate Takes,” nearly 9-minutes of improvised lines, mostly from Ferrell. The disc also contains a 10-minute episode of Moviefone Unscripted with Arnett, Ferrell and Heder, three MTV interstitials and photo galleries of behind-the scenes antics and photos of the actors in crazy costumes.
With a nationwide box office gross of over $118 million, those interested in seeing Blades of Glory have probably already done so. If you missed it and are a fan of Ferrell’s previous work, the ice dancing comedy will not let you down. All of the actors bring their individual brands of comedy to their roles, giving their fans plenty to laugh at. Many real-life skaters got into the act as well, poking fun at themselves and the sport at which they excel. With the numerous bonus features, the DVD is well worth the investment if you’re already a Blades of Glory fan. All of the supplements have terrific moments, providing a ton of laughs, far more than your usual DVD extras. With gold medals in comedy and bonus features, Blades of Glory is a winner.
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EU Critic’s Choice Awards
