“Blades of a Glory” cuts up sporadically but isn’t sharp all the way through.
In that respect, the competitive ice skating spoof is like so many of the, er, bazillion other movies from the members of the overexposed comedy cabal that includes Will Ferrell (this time headlining) and Ben Stiller (this time credited as a producer). Their movies often start strong as we meet the offbeat characters and first behold the setup sight gags. But soon only about, oh, one out of every four or five joke attempts fly and a dumb plot plays out toward a dull last act.
This time the ex-“SNL” prodigy moves from the inherently mirthful world of NASCAR as the clueless redneck Ricky Bobby in last summer’s “Talladega Nights” to the similarly gaudy and earnest realm of championship skating as the big-bellied sexaholic Chazz.
John Heder (Napoleon Dynamite) reinforces that he may only be a one-hit wonder, registering weakly here (as he did in “School for Scoundrels”) playing Ferrell’s fey foil Jimmy. The two are arch-rivals for the gold in the men’s individual category of an Olympics-style contest until they get in a fight at the medals ceremony, get kicked out of the sport, and end up has-beens. But the opponents eventually circumvent the rules by teaming up to become the first same sex duo to enter the pairs competition.
Hilarity — frequently of the homophobic and slapstick, wallop-to-the-crotch varieties — supposedly ensues.
What would Brian Boitano do? He’d probably go to this pandering crowd-pleaser. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you should too.
“Blades of Glory”
» Stars: Will Ferrell, John Heder, Amy Poehler
» Directors: Josh Gordon, Will Speck
» Rated: PG-13 for crude and sexual humor, language, a comic violent image and some drug references.
2/5 stars
