Enter my foray into standard comedic fare, courtesy of the wondrous Netflix. Why Blades of Glory? Have you heard about my not-so-secret crush on Will Ferrell? Yes, he's a complete and utter goofball, but that's what I like about him. He's fearless in just how much of an ass he's willing to make of himself in any given picture. As you also may have heard, however, I find Mr. Ferrell's films to be largely hit and miss. Some I find uproariously funny, while others sort of fall into the category of "same old same old," with slight variations given whatever the film is about. Blades of Glory, as it turns out, falls into the latter category, with a twist, or, should I say, a double axle? It's about figure skating, which should, by all intents and purposes, be a treasure trove for comedic gold. And it was...so long as Mr. Ferrell was not involved.
Will plays Chazz Michael Michaels, a rebellious rock star of a figure skater, who also happens to be rivals with Jimmy MacElroy (Jon Heder, aka, Napoleon Dynamite), a prodigy and a pretty boy, with the Farrah hair to prove it. Their rivalry comes to a head (hee hee) when, while accepting tied gold medals, they break into a physical altercation that results in them being banned from men's figure skating altogether. That is, until Jimmy's former coach (Craig T. Nelson) discovers a loophole, in that Jimmy and Chazz were only banned from their division; they're still eligible in other divisions, i.e., pairs skating, which is traditionally male/female. There's no rule that says two men can't skate together (i.e., not that there's anything wrong with that), so Coach, yearning for gold himself, has to smooth out the ruffles between Chazz and Jimmy long enough to get them to skate gracefully together. His efforts pay off, until a rival brother/sister team (played by Amy Poehler and Will Arnett), whose relationship is a little too close for comfort, decide to gum up the works, using their guilt-trip driven sister Katie (Jenna Fischer), who develops a requited crush on Jimmy, in the process.
And hilarity ensues. Sometimes. The truth is, Blades of Glory is rather mediocre, even while keeping in mind that this is just another silly, lowbrow comedy in a long line of silly, lowbrow comedies. Will Ferrell's Chazz is really a combination of characters he's played previously, namely Ron Burgundy and Ricky Bobby with a dash of that guy from Zoolander (sans accent) thrown in. I never once laughed at Will. Ready, aim, fire -- and it's a miss.
I did laugh at many of the supporting players. William Fichtner's brief role as a corporate billionaire and former horse breeder who adopts Jimmy so long as he wins a gold medal (by himself) made me laugh out loud a few times, perhaps given the subtle satire underlying his character. Also, while Amy Poehler's catty ice princess did little for me, her brother, played by Will Arnett, made me chuckle. Craig T. Nelson had his moments too, and for what it's worth, Jimmy MacElroy is quite a different character from Napoleon Dynamite, and Jon Heder made me like him, even if I didn't always laugh at him.
The movie also featured a slew of cameos by real-life figure skaters, so it was nice to see people willing to poke fun at their own sport. Yet, the movie didn't sustain for me. It wasn't all that funny overall, though some spots were hilarious. To me, the entire film seemed like one long live-action reenactment of a cartoon that, at least, featured on Saturday Night Live prominently when Will Ferrell was still on that show (don't know if it still does). Anyone recall the "Ambiguously Gay Duo?" The entire premise of comedy supporting Chazz and Jimmy's partnership, other than the natural hilarity of figure skating in general, was a bunch of eye-raising skating routines that were largely robbed from that largely unfunny cartoon. They tried to undercut the one-note quality of this joke by making Chazz a sex addict and Jimmy a socially awkward puppy dog in relationship to Katie, but it was too little too late. Recognizing this, I got bored pretty fast.
Since the point of a movie like Blades of Glory is to do one thing - make a person laugh - the boredom factor loomed large. I still laughed, like I stated, but overall, my sides weren't splitting with this film. I think it can be rated 5.5, between utterly mediocre and cute/mediocre; the 0.5 bonus I offer for the times when I did laugh. As for the test of purchase, this one - not so much a pass. The concept was intriguing, and I love Will Ferrell, but overall, I find this movie more of a miss in his catalogue and, therefore, a miss for mine.