Blades of Glory (PG-13) ***1/2

Blades of Glory is sheer inspired silliness. Will Ferrell and Jon Heder are Chazz Michael Michaels and Jimmy MacElroy, professional ice skating extordinares. Michaels is the shameless lustful slob and MacElroy is the primpy clean wuzz. In other words, they were made for each other.

When a fight over a gold win tie leads to their banishment from men's single skating, Michaels and Macaroy are forced to work together in the men's pair skating. Sure, there are the usual amount of gay jokes (the ackward facing of the crotch as shown in the trailer above), but the jokes are actually good (!) not because what they're doing looks gay, but because what they're doing is making them feel very... very... uncomfortable.

More than that, this film seems to be subverting the ice-skating scene from the ground up. Take the two montages of Michael's and MacElroy's history at the beginning of the film. Most sports shows like to recap a player's beginnings for dramatic reverence and effect. In this movie, the effect is decidedly comedic:

-MacElroy describes his beginnings as happy and ordinary; Cut to his 9 year-old self walking on a treadmill, breathing into a tube, monitored by 5 to 6 doctors.
-Michaels remarks how he's come far from being a drug dealer and criminal; Cut to his cover of the porno "The Iceman Cometh" with pornstars at his feet.

What really surprised me about this movie was Ferrell. Most of you already know him from SNL, Anchorman, and Talladega Nights, and are aware of his talents as a comedian, but in this movie, he rises high to new lows. Will Ferrell, the actor, has no shame, allowing his character, Chazz Michael Michaels, to have even less. When Michaels finishes flaunting his libido, he usually excuses himself by saying "I'm a sex addict" with little or no prompting. Chazz Michael Michaels reminded me a lot of "Bluto" from Animal House: He isn't a character, he's a force of nature. And we love him all the more for it.

Staring:
Will Ferrell : Chazz Michael Michaels
Jon Heder: Jimmy MacElroy
Will Arnett : Stranz Van Waldenberg
Amy Poehler: Fairchild Van Waldenberg
Jenna Fischer: Katie Van Waldenberg
Craig T. Nelson: Coach

In Theaters March 30th.