Blades of Glory Review

Will Ferrell and Jon "Napoleon Dynamite" Heder as rival ice-skating champions forced to skate as a pair? Admit it, you're laughing already. No? Well, you soon will be, because "Blades of Glory" is consistently hilarious from start to finish. Heder plays former child prodigy Jimmy MacElroy, the embodiment of technical perfection on the ice and rival to the swaggering Chazz Michael Michaels (Ferrell), whose rock star moves have earned him hordes of screaming fans. However, when they get into a fistfight at the World Championships they find themselves stripped of their gold medals and banned from professional skating for life, until Jimmy's weird stalker Hector (Nick Swardson) discovers a loophole that would allow them to compete as the sport's first male / male partnership. Can Jimmy and Chazz put aside their hatred of each other and defeat the unscrupulous reigning champions, Stranz and Fairchild Van Waldenberg (Will Arnett and Amy Poehler)?

Heder and Ferrell make a superb comic duo, sparking off each other beautifully both on and off the ice, particularly during their hilariously inane bickering. The ice-skating scenes are well handled, incorporating seamless effects work and impressive choreography to riotous effect (their first routine is one of the funniest things you'll see all year). In addition, the script is terrific, ensuring that you're never more than a couple of seconds away from a winning one-liner or a laugh-out-loud visual gag.

The supporting cast are equally good, particularly Arnett, Craig T. Nelson (as their coach) and Jenna Fischer (from "The Office: An American Workplace") as the Van Waldenberg's put-upon younger sister Katie. There's also a superb comic performance from William Fichtner as Jimmy's adoptive father, though his character unfortunately disappears early on.

This is a well written, impressively directed comedy with a very high laugh count and superb comic performances from its cast.