Will Ferrell has made several successful comedies in the last several years. I tend to see most of his movies since I usually enjoy them. I've been wanting to see Blades of Glory ever since I first heard about the movie.

Chaz Michael Michaels and Jimmy MacElroy were rival figure skaters with very different styles. Chaz was an admitted sex addict who was wild and flamboyant in his routines. He didn’t even have a coach. Jimmy had been adopted by Darren MacElroy when he was four and groomed to be a champion skater. Jimmy was a very artistic, precise skater. Chaz and Jimmy ended up tied for the gold at a major competition and they got into a fight on the podium. Both men were stripped of their medals and they were banned from men’s figure skating for life. Jimmy’s father disowned him that day.

Three and a half years later, Jimmy was working in a sporting goods store and Chaz was performing in an ice show. Chaz was fired after he performed drunk and caused a huge scene. Jimmy’s obsessive fan found a loop hole in the rules that would allow Jimmy to compete in the pairs division. His former coach didn’t like the idea at first but he eventually changed his mind, coming up with a unique twist on the idea in the process. He decided that Jimmy and Chaz should compete as a pair. It did take a bit of convincing to get Jimmy and Chaz to agree. They received a lot of media attention as soon as word spread. Stranz and Fairchild Van Waldenberg, the reigning pairs champions, were angered by that and started plotting to sabotage Jimmy and Chaz.

I thought that Blades of Glory was a very funny movie. Several of the funny things happened in scenes dealing with the figure skating. Early in the movie, Jimmy was wearing a very funny looking costume for his routine that was supposed to be a peacock. That costume included tail feathers and something over one of his hands to make it look like the head of the bird. Jimmy and Chaz both did some things in their routines that made me laugh. Chaz and Jimmy were very different and they clashed when they started trying to work together and that added more laughs. There were a few things done for laughs that were rather gross. I could have done without seeing those things. The trailer did make it look like the movie would be silly. There were silly moments in the movie, but I didn’t think it was so silly that it became stupid. I thought the movie was very funny overall and is worth watching for people in the mood for a comedy. People that don’t like silly humor should probably pick something else.

For the most part, I don’t like sports and I don’t understand the rules of several of them. That hasn’t stopped me from enjoying several sports movies over the years. Figure skating is really the only sport I enjoy watching or even know much about. That was one reason why I did want to see Blades of Glory. The competition that Chaz and Jimmy were in at the beginning of the movie was obviously supposed to be the Olympics even though it was called something else. Some routines were shown throughout the movie, none of which were that impressive. That did make it unbelievable that the routines were receiving such high scores. I think what I liked the most was that Chaz and Jimmy skated to the theme from the movie Flash Gordon for one routine. In all of the divisions of figure skating, there are certain required elements have to be included in the routines. In one scene, Coach briefly mentioned a few elements for a pair’s routine. He never called them required elements and when they were planning routines, Coach only started talking about them including one special move to dazzle the judges. The parts of the routines that were actually shown really didn’t include many actual elements. I still really enjoyed the movie even though it wasn’t accurate as far as the skating was concerned. Some well known figure skaters like Scott Hamilton, Nancy Kerrigan, Brian Boitano, Peggy Flemming, Dorothy Hamil and Sasha Coen appeared briefly in the movie. Certain things from this movie did remind me a bit of The Cutting Edge, a more serious movie about figure skating.

Chaz made it clear throughout Blades of Glory that he was addicted to sex, never missing an opportunity to bring it up. He included sexually suggestive moves in his routines and made sexually suggestive comments throughout the movie. He turned up almost naked once or twice which was something I could have done without seeing. Jimmy was in only his underwear in one scene and Katie also turned up in a revealing outfit once. She and Jimmy did have some feelings for each other and had a little bit of romance going on. There weren’t any sex scenes in the movie or any actual nudity. A few characters did swear throughout the movie and a few obscene gestures were even used. It did seem like the movie was trying to push what they could get away with and still receive the PG-13 rating. This really isn’t a movie younger children should see.

Chaz was very obnoxious and didn’t care about anyone else when the movie started. He was just focused on winning and having as much sex as possible. He was treated a lot like a rock star by his fans, especially the women who would throw bras and underwear at him. I did like Will Ferrell in the part even though Chaz wasn’t that likable a character. This one was one of the darker characters that Ferrell has played and I think he was able to pull it off. Jimmy was very shy, had some sort of fear of germs, and was very precise and artistic in his skating. He hadn’t had much luck with women because of his shyness. Jon Heder handled the part well.

Jimmy’s coach was only called Coach throughout the movie and that was how he was listed in the credits. Coach had tried to move on after Jimmy had been banned but he still dreamed of coaching a winning skater. Coach actually came up with the idea of turning Jimmy and Chaz into a pair. Coach was a bit excitable and did have some unique ideas for things to include in the routines. Craig T. Nelson was fine in the part. Darren MacElroy had raised champion race horses before he decided to take in orphans to turn them into sports champions. Jimmy was the most successful before he was banned from men’s skating. Once that happened, Darren didn’t want anything else to do with Jimmy. He wasn’t a nice guy. William Fichtner was only in a few scenes, so he didn’t have that much to do.

Stranz and Fairchild were the brother and sister team that were the reigning champions. They were obsessed with winning and would do anything to reach their goal. They weren’t nice people and they treated their sister Katie like a slave, using guilt to manipulate her into doing things. Will Arnett and Amy Poehler were good in the parts. Katie was a very kind and loving woman who didn’t approve of the things her brother and sister did. She had her reasons for letting them take advantage of her. Jenna Fischer was really good as Katie.

Main Cast

Will Arnett - Stranz Van Waldenberg
Will Ferrell - Chaz Michael Michaels
Will Fichtner - Darren MacElroy
Jenna Fischer - Katie Van Waldenberg
Jon Heder - Jimmy MacElroy
Craig T. Nelson - Coach
Amy Poehler - Fairchild Van Waldenberg

Directed by Josh Gordon and Will Speck

Blades of Glory was a bit silly, but I still thought it was a very entertaining, funny comedy. People need to be in the mood for something silly to really enjoy this one. Fans of Will Ferrell may also enjoy the movie.

Will Ferrell Movies
Bewitched ~ Elf ~ Kicking & Screaming ~ The Producers (2005) ~ Starsky & Hutch ~ Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby ~


Recommended: Yes