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"That's a Dynamite
Performance!!!" |
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Directed by Will Speck &
Josh Gordon - Written by
Jeff Cox, Craig Cox
Starring Will Ferrell,
Jon Heder, Will Arnett,
Amy Poehler, Jenna
Fischer
Romany Malco, Nick
Swardson, Rob Corddry,
Craig T. Nelson, William
Fichtner
Distributed by
Dreamworks -
2007 - 93m - Rated PG13 |
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Richard Propes'
Review
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C+ |
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Is it Friday the 13th? It's an odd day...a really odd day when
Jacob Hall rates a Jon Heder film higher than I do. |
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I love Jon Heder. I
love Will Ferrell, almost in the way that Nick Swardson loves Jimmy
MacElroy in this film.
So, why did I only "like" "Blades of Glory," the latest in Ferrell's
kaleidoscope of unique characters set in the world of ice skating?
Despite an often hilarious script that falls somewhere between
"Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" and "Talladega Nights" and
the spot-on performances of Ferrell and Heder as rival men's singles
figure skaters who team-up after a fight causes both men to be
stripped of their gold medals, there were several shots in "Blades
of Glory" so distractingly inept that during multiple scenes
throughout the film I found myself jerked out of a scene, joke or
storyline by camera shots that would either slow down the action,
freeze it or inexplicably linger on either Ferrell or Heder's face
or crotch.
We get the point already...funny, ha ha, two straight men figure
skating have to hug each other and touch each other's balls.
It was funny the first time...heck, it was even funny the second
time. Thanks to Ferrell and Heder, in fact, it was often funny until
finally the lingering got just plain old and, suddenly, it became
more distracting than funny.
Cinematographer Stefan Czapsky ("Ed Wood" and "Wild Wild West" among
others) seems to fall victim to what can only be explained as
inexperienced direction by Josh Gordon and Will Speck. Gordon and
Speck all too often force the cheap laugh instead of waiting for the
huge comic payoff. Repeatedly, "Blades of Glory" offers us awkward
slow-motion shots throughout the ice skating scenes. We're talking
slow-motion almost to the point of stillness. It almost felt as if
Ferrell's acknowledged gift for facial expressions was anticipated
and the camera was just sitting there waiting for a response.
One of Ferrell's greatest gifts as a comic is the perfectly timed
spontaneous gesture, facial expression or random action. It felt as
if Gordon and Speck, either through inexperience or impatience, were
simply trying to force what Ferrell already does so naturally.
While the camera occasionally betrayed the overall free spirited
nature of the film, the fact remains that "Blades of Glory" is
likely to be one of 2007's funniest "C" range films. While Jeff and
Craig Cox's script (there are three other writers who also get a
script credit) occasionally feels remarkably predictable and too
often relies on cheap physical gags, Ferrell and Heder manage to
make the most of what are essentially thinly drawn characters.
Ferrell, who by now has established the reputation for being willing
to do virtually anything for the sake of a laugh or a character,
fleshes out the showier of the two characters, Chazz Michael
Michaels. Chazz, who has the reputation of being "sex on ice," is a
perfect character for Ferrell's innate ability to be simultaneously
raunchy and vulnerable onscreen. Even when the script isn't
particularly funny, somehow, Ferrell milks the scene for every laugh
possible.
Perhaps as evidenced by Jacob's fondness for "Blades of Glory," Jon
Heder also shines as the kinder, gentler Jimmy MacElroy. In a role
that seems to combine a little bit of just about everything we've
seen Heder do onscreen, here we see Heder break away more concretely
from his Napoleon Dynamite role with more authority than we've ever
seen from a Heder performance.
The supporting cast all performs nicely, most notably real-life
husband and wife Amy Poehler and Will Arnett as a creepily
incestuous brother/sister team who eerily resemble figure skating's
notorious bad girl Tonya Harding and her former beau, Jeff Gillooly.
Jenna Fischer, as their odd sibling out isn't called to do much
here, but adds a nice human touch to proceedings that often get
downright bizarre. Craig T. Nelson also offers his usual dependable
performance as Chazz and Jimmy's coach, a man obsessed with pulling
off an impossible move, "The Iron Lotus," while Nick Swardson shows
up as a Jimmy-obsessed fan who has stalking down to a fine art.
"Blades of Glory," oddly enough, almost works. It's a funny film. In
fact, it's almost the perfect example of a film where most audience
members will read a review and go "See, that's why I hate critics.
They're so out of touch with what people want to see."
To a certain degree, I must admit that this is probably a valid
point. For all its technical and script, "Blades of Glory" is a
good-hearted, funny and often entertaining film. The vast majority
of those in the audience were laughing...many hysterically. I'd be
surprised to hear too many people complain about the technical
issues that so distracted me, and I doubt that too many folks will
be bothered by the fact that the joke that's making them laugh in
"Blades of Glory" is pretty darn similar to the joke that made them
laugh in "Anchorman," "Talladega Nights," "Old School" and, yes,
even "Elf."
The typical American movie-going audience isn't distracted by having
to pay attention to the technical aspects of film, the cohesion of a
script or the natural development of characters. In no way is this
an insult...for most people, "it made me laugh" equals "it was a
great film."
I just can't agree. I've seen and rated nearly 13,000 films in my
life.
I've seen unique, innovative and fresh scripts..."Blades of Glory"
doesn't have one.
I've seen brilliant production design with camera work that
powerfully enhances even the lowest budget film...this ain't it.
I've seen directors who trust their casts enough to not go for cheap
physical gags...Josh Gordon and Will Speck, whose last feature film
was nine years ago, show promise but too often are impatient in
rushing to humor. In so doing this, they often disregard Ferrell's
greatest talents as an actor and the natural chemistry that exists
between Ferrell and Heder.
In short, as funny as "Blades of Glory" is, thanks almost entirely
to Ferrell and Heder, this could have been a much better film.
"Blades of Glory" ranges in its approach from satire early on,
complete with numerous skating cameos, to an almost absurdist
approach in the latter parts of the film. While many of the bits are
quite funny, occasionally Gordon and Speck push the envelope a bit
too far and, in particular, the ending leaves you going "What the
**** is that all about?"
"Blades of Glory" is, when it comes down to it, a film designed
primarily for fans of Ferrell's previous films, however, it offers
the double blessing of an unexpectedly energetic, humorous
performance from Jon Heder as the perfect balance to Ferrell's
lunacy. While "Blades of Glory" is, from a critical perspective,
short of a gold medal film, there's no denying that this film has
all the makings of a return to box-office gold for Will Ferrell. |
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© Written by Richard Propes -
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TC Candler's Comment
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Jacob Hall's
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