Blades of Glory

After just having sat through the thoroughly uninspired Talledega Nights, I was a little reluctant to catch Blades of Glory. Then something happened after I put it in the dvd player: I laughed... a lot.

Will Ferrell plays Chazz Michael Michaels and (assclown) Jon Heder plays his rival Jimmy MacElroy in this tale of two male figure skaters forced to compete as a doubles team. Their rivalry led to an embarrassing incident at their last gold medal event. We pick up their characters 3.5 years later as Ferrell is performing in a kid's show on ice and Heder is working a sporting goods store.

Craig T. Nelson costars as the simply named (and inside joke) Coach. Nelson is perfect here as the somewhat batshit crazy obsessive who feels they can compete with anyone with his "Iron Lotus." Ferrell and Heder are at their best here. Heder plays the straight man off of Ferrell's great improvisation. You also get William Fichtner, Will Arnett, Jenna Fischer, and Amy Poehler for added punch.

Blades of Glory is from first time feature directors Josh Gordon and Will Speck. They are veterans of commercials and some short films, but this is their first time trying to tell a full story. What makes this work is their full on over the top stupidity that radiates from every scene. The film wouldn't work if it was somewhat based in reality and the directors know it.

80/100

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

I've put off watching this film for some reason. I didn't have the greatest expectations for it despite it featuring John C. Reilly as second fiddle to Will Ferrell. Anyway...Ferrell is Ricky Bobby - a Nascar driver who believes that winning is the only thing that matters. He has a tendency to wreck his car trying and eventually he has a bad enough crash that causes him to re-examine his life.

Reilly is quite good as Ricky Bobby's best friend. He has a sense of comic timing that that only makes his costar Sacha Baron Cohen look worse. Cohen has to be the most untalented assclown working in films today. His work here is atrocious... but he is hardly the only one to blame for this film. Adam McKay (Anchorman) lets Ferrell roll on the improve and while that worked for Anchorman, it seems to fall flat here. Even Amy Adams (pre-Enchanted) as Ricky Bobby's assistant can't make this completely unwritten script funny. Only Gary Cole (Office Space) as the patriarch of the Bobby family can elicit a laugh here and there.

I don't watch Will Ferrell for plot and escapism, but I do expect to laugh. Talladega Nights barely kept me from falling asleep... the funny stuff is in the trailer... in fact some of that didn't even make the movie.

40/100