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SYNOPSIS:
Bitter figure skating rivals Chazz Michael Michaels and Jimmy
MacElroy brawl after tying for the gold medal at the world
championships. Banned for life from men's competition, these
archrivals beat the system thanks to a loophole that allows
them to skate again - in pairs' competition!
MOVIE
REVIEW
One
look at the DVD cover and I know this isn’t an intelligent
movie. You probably know that too – we didn’t
think you were that stupid. Directors Will Speck and Josh
Gordon probably didn’t expect viewers to think that
this is a movie which involves lots of character development,
plot twists and innovative storytelling.
And they
got what they wanted – a movie that is wildly entertaining
that guarantees barrels of laughs.
The story
is silly enough: Two male figure skaters get disqualified
from competing on the world stage for unruly behavior. A loophole
is found and the two men get together to compete in pair skating
instead. From the initial enmity, they eventually become buddies
to win the championship, gay jokes notwithstanding.
Why would
we provide the ending here? Because you’d have seen
the predictable conclusion 15 minutes into the 93-minute comedy.
But why do you still find yourself guffawing at every single
juvenile joke that takes place?
Is it
because funnyman Will Ferrell (Curious George, Stranger Than
Fiction) is spot-on as a rude and brash macho skater? Is it
because floppy-haired Jon Heder (Napolean Dynamite, Surf’s
Up) is spot-on as a delicate and whiny mild-mannered skater?
Or is it the inerasable image of Ferrell clutching Heder by
his crotch in an unimaginably hilarious skating sequence?
Yes, everyone
loves a childish joke every now and then.
Other
than the several practice sequences, the tournament scenes
are surprisingly engaging, with cameos from several real-life
skating champions to add to the fun of the entire movie. Throw
in a few good jokes about North Korea, sex addiction and the
Black Eyed Peas, and any good-humored viewer would be laughing
his head off throughout.
And in
the name of good fun, look out for Luke Wilson’s amusing
cameo as a support group leader.
The
digestible movie may not be one of the most important movie
of all time, but if you find yourself smiling at the thought
of two grown men skating to Aerosmith’s catchy tune
of “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing”, this
movie is for you and your friends during a weekend stay-over.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
So many bonus features, so little time – the
featurettes on this Code 3 DVD actually look more fun than
the movie itself – as if the crazy flick isn’t
fun enough already!
In
the 15-minute “Return to Glory: The Making of
Blades”, producer Ben Stiller talks about how
he has always wanted to make a movie about male figure skaters
since he was eight years old, and approached Ferrell to play
the part. It’s nice having friends who are willing to
sacrifice for your art.
Coach
Sarah Kawahara talks about how she trained the two leads in
the six-minute “Celebrities on Thin Ice”.
Having trained Michelle Kwan the acclaimed skater, it’s
quite something when Kawahara is impressed with how Ferrell
can turn and twist his hips, while thinking that Heder is
“quite fearless”.
With
a title like “Cooler Than Ice: The Super-Sexy
Costumes of Skating”, you can expect some funny
moments in this five-minute clip where you’ll see the
silly costumes designed for the characters in the movie. We
can’t help chuckling at Heder’s elegantly-designed
peacock-inspired outfit.
“Arnett
and Poehler: A Family Affair” is a six-minute
clip where you’d see real life husband and wife Will
Arnett and Amy Poehler (who play siblings in the film) humorously
talk about how they got the villainous roles in the movie.
We have a feeling they aren’t taking the interview too
seriously, but heck, they are funny to listen to.
“20
Questions with Scott Hamilton” is a five-minute
clip with the real-life skater about his life as, well, a
skater. The poor guy often got mistaken for Mark Hamilton
(Luke Skywalker in Star Wars) when he was younger. Frivolous
stuff, but we like it.
“Hector:
Portrait of a Psychofan” starts out innocently
enough with the fanatic Jimmy (Heder) fan talking about his
fetish for the male skater. As the three-minute progresses,
you just laugh at how someone actually took the effort to
produce this silly three-minute clip interspersed with scenes
from the movie.
Nine
minutes worth of “Deleted Scenes”
are included, where you’d see four scenes that didn’t
make it to the final cut, the best being Ferrell recommending
a leather-skinned outfit to Heder, and recommending a hairbrush
for his floppy hair.
A
five-minute “Music Video: Blades of Glory by
Bo Bice” sees the long-haired American Idol
contestant playing the piano in an unusually restrained manner.
A
two-minute “Gag Reel” sees the
actors falling down while trying to look graceful. We laugh,
and then we feel bad for being so cruel.
In
“Alternate Takes”, we laugh at
the actors repeating their lines, and in one instance, doing
push-ups and sit-ups non-stop. We never knew nine minutes
of this would actually amuse us.
“Moviefone Unscripted with Will Ferrell, Jon
Heder and Will Arnett” is a 10-minute talkshow
where the three hilarious actors answer questions from the
viewers. We learn that Arnett enjoys being rude playing the
antagonist, Ferrell’s favorite costume is a Steven Seagal-inspired
leather jacket, and Heder thinks that the bonding on the movie
is similar to the fellowship on Lord of the Rings.
Three
creatively-produced “MTV Insterstitials”
running at a total of two minutes made us realize
how these spots influenced television viewers to go watch
the movie.
Also,
check out “Photo Gallery” where
you can “Kick Some Ice” and “Capture the
Dream” with the skaters, while ogling at their “Costume
Glory”.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The disc’s visual transfer makes figure skating look
spectacularly exciting (even if it’s between two men),
and there are audio options of English and Thai Dolby Digital
5.1.
MOVIE RATING:
 
DVD
RATING :
Review
by John Li
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