Blades of Glory
Encyclopedia
Blades of Glory is a 2007 American comedy film
directed by Josh Gordon and Will Speck
, and starring Will Ferrell
and Jon Heder
. The movie was released on March 29, 2007 by DreamWorks
and MTV Films
. It was released on DVD
and HD DVD
on August 7, 2007 and released on Blu-ray Disc
on May 20, 2008.
Chazz Michael Michaels (Ferrell), a skillful skater but raunchy sex addict, and Jimmy MacElroy (Heder), a talented, effeminate skater, tie for gold. An argument ensues, which develops into a fight on the awards podium. As a result they are stripped of their medals and banned from men's singles competition. Jimmy's competitive adoptive father, billionaire Darren MacElroy (William Fichtner
), immediately disowns him and leaves him stranded on the side of the road.
Three and a half years later, Jimmy is working at a winter sporting goods store and gets demoted to sorting stock after he refuses to listen to a child when she tells him her skating boot has been tied too tightly. Chazz has gained a lot of weight and is fired from a children’s skating show for being in a drunken stupor on stage. Jimmy's stalker, Hector (Nick Swardson
), tells him of a loophole in the ban allowing him to compete in pair skating
. In hopes of entering the upcoming World Winter Sport Games, Jimmy contacts his old coach, Robert, but is unable to find a partner. Jimmy's search for a last-minute partner leads him to Chazz, and Robert convinces the two to skate as a same-sex pairs team, because the regulations fail to state the genders of the pairs.
The reigning U.S. national pairs champions, brother and sister Stranz (Will Arnett
) and Fairchild (Amy Poehler
) van Waldenberg, see the new pair as a threat and conspire against them. The pair convince their sister Katie (Jenna Fischer
), whom they often take advantage of by reminding her that their parents died taking Katie to skating practice, to spy on the duo. In the process, Katie becomes acquainted with Jimmy and they develop a relationship. Although Chazz and Jimmy are initially disgusted by each other, they eventually develop a friendship. They compete at the United States Figure Skating Championships
and earn a chance to compete at the World Winter Sport Games.
Chazz and Jimmy’s coach informs them that to win, they will need to perform a technique that has never been performed successfully: The "Iron Lotus", an extremely complicated maneuver that Robert developed years ago. However, it is also dangerous: the only attempt of the maneuver was “behind the bamboo curtain” in North Korea, and resulted in the man decapitating the woman with his skate blade. Nonetheless, they decide to attempt it as Robert is convinced that two males would be better suited for the move because of the physics of a same-sex team (this is a parody of skating-themed film The Cutting Edge
, where the conflicting main characters also decide to practice a dangerous skating routine). Fairchild commands Katie to disrupt the duo by having sex with Chazz, threatening to harm Jimmy if Katie does not comply. Katie invites Chazz to her room, and tries to seduce him. Chazz refuses, delighting Katie, but cannot resist grabbing her breasts. Jimmy witnesses this and is outraged at Chazz's and Katie's betrayals.
The next day, Chazz and Jimmy are both kidnapped and restrained by Stranz and Fairchild, respectively. Katie gets tired of her siblings and accepts that their parents weren't properly safe while driving. While handcuffing Jimmy in a bathroom, Fairchild reveals that she and Stranz commanded Katie to have sex with Chazz yet she could not go through with it, due to her love for Jimmy. Chazz escapes but is pursued by Stranz through Montreal
on ice and then through streets and stores. He tries to shoot Chazz with a crossbow, but accidentally hits the Winter Sport Games Mascot, Snowflake Jimmy also escapes when a kid in the bathroom knocked down the bin which contains the key for the handcuff, though he had to use his tongue to drag the dirty toilet paper, as the key was on it.
Stranz and Fairchild perform their routine, a dramatization of the "Forbidden Romance" of John F. Kennedy
and Marilyn Monroe
. Both Chazz and Jimmy arrive in the ice rink just in time to compete. Chazz and Jimmy reconcile quickly and begin their routine, which has a science fiction theme. Fairchild, seeing the two doing well, throws pearls onto the ice. Chazz trips over a pearl and breaks his ankle, which renders him unable to perform his role in the Iron Lotus. Jimmy then offers to switch places with him. Although they have never practiced the other's roles, they perform it perfectly. Jimmy and Chazz win the competition, Jimmy reconciles with Katie, and Stranz and Fairchild are arrested due to the kidnappings and Snowflake‘s shooting. Stranz and Fairchild begin arguing, then inexplicably kiss each other incestuously (the inside joke, of course, is that the actors Will Arnett and Amy Poehler are real-life husband and wife). Jimmy and Chazz receive the gold medal and fly off into the sky through rockets on their skates. While the credits roll, Hector is seen playing with dolls of himself, Jimmy and Chazz.
and World Wintersport Games were shot at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
. The stadium used for the outside shoots is the unique Montreal Olympic Stadium
, built for the 1976 Olympics
. The outdoor chase scenes were also shot on-location in Montreal
. The building used for athlete housing in Montreal was the unique Habitat 67, built for Expo 67
.
The film was delayed for a small undetermined period of time when Jon Heder
broke his ankle while doing a skating program for the film.
Jon Heder's character answers a reporter's question in Japanese
. Heder speaks fluent Japanese, having spent two years in Japan as a missionary
for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
" which appears on Jay-Z
and Kanye West
's album, Watch the Throne
.
to be the number 1 film. It made $22.5 million in its second weekend, losing only 32% of its audience and retaining the Number 1 spot. As of December 3, 2007 the film has made $118,245,842 in America and $26,264,403 in the foreign market place. Its worldwide tally is $145,708,642.
, and the critics' consensus was that "Blades of Glory successfully milks its one-joke premise into a feature-length comedy".
The Monthly
critic Luke Davies
accepted the film as a fun romp, comparing it to Will Ferrell's previous movies Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
and wrote positively of Ferrell's performance, describing that "there is a parodic exhilaration to everything Ferrell does; there's always the sense that any scene is precariously close to being a blooper reel." However, Davies conceded that, like the other two films, the plot was "formulaic ... [with] an obviousness to the set-ups, a no-nonsense compression, a sometimes clunky transition from one sequence to the next" but that it was the film's ability to "venture to fantastically absurd places - to set aside the rapid and hokey forward movement - and there to idle in neutral, in zones of pure comic exploration" and offer "moments of expansive hilarity ... that made the films worthwhile." Davies concluded that "Blades of Glory remains completely deadpan. Everything is self-knowing, a wink at the audience, and cheap shots are made only at the expense of the characters" and that "the film has warmth, rather than just being a series of high-grade lowbrow sketches and gags" due to "the protagonists [ability to] inhabit and fill their world, rather than come up against it, enhanc[ing] the comedy."
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
directed by Josh Gordon and Will Speck
Will Speck
- Filmography :*The Switch *Blades of Glory *Culture *Angry Boy -External links:...
, and starring Will Ferrell
Will Ferrell
John William "Will" Ferrell is an American comedian, impressionist, actor, and writer. Ferrell first established himself in the late 1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, and has subsequently starred in the comedy films Old School, Elf, Anchorman, Talladega...
and Jon Heder
Jon Heder
Jonathan Joseph "Jon" Heder is an American screenwriter, actor, and filmmaker. His feature film debut came in 2004 as the title character of the comedy film Napoleon Dynamite...
. The movie was released on March 29, 2007 by DreamWorks
DreamWorks
DreamWorks Pictures, also known as DreamWorks, LLC, DreamWorks SKG, DreamWorks II Distribution Co., LLC, DreamWorks Studios or DW Studios, LLC, is an American film studio which develops, produces, and distributes films, video games and television programming...
and MTV Films
MTV Films
MTV Films is the motion picture production arm of cable channel MTV. Founded in 1996, it has produced films based on MTV programs such as Beavis and Butt-head Do America and Jackass: The Movie, as well as other adaptations and original projects. Its films are released by fellow Viacom division...
. It was released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and HD DVD
HD DVD
HD DVD is a discontinued high-density optical disc format for storing data and high-definition video.Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the standard DVD format...
on August 7, 2007 and released on Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
on May 20, 2008.
Plot
At the World Winter Sport Games, rival men's singles skatersSingle skating
Single skating is a discipline of figure skating, wherein a single person skates alone. Men's singles and ladies' singles are both Olympic disciplines and are both governed by the International Skating Union. The other Olympic figure skating events are pair skating and ice dancing...
Chazz Michael Michaels (Ferrell), a skillful skater but raunchy sex addict, and Jimmy MacElroy (Heder), a talented, effeminate skater, tie for gold. An argument ensues, which develops into a fight on the awards podium. As a result they are stripped of their medals and banned from men's singles competition. Jimmy's competitive adoptive father, billionaire Darren MacElroy (William Fichtner
William Fichtner
William Edward Fichtner is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Sheriff Tom Underlay on Invasion, as Alexander Mahone on Prison Break, as William Sharp in Armageddon, and as Ken Rosenberg in the video games Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.- Early life...
), immediately disowns him and leaves him stranded on the side of the road.
Three and a half years later, Jimmy is working at a winter sporting goods store and gets demoted to sorting stock after he refuses to listen to a child when she tells him her skating boot has been tied too tightly. Chazz has gained a lot of weight and is fired from a children’s skating show for being in a drunken stupor on stage. Jimmy's stalker, Hector (Nick Swardson
Nick Swardson
Nicholas Roger "Nick" Swardson is an American actor, stand-up comedian, and writer. He is best known for his recurring role as Terry Bernardino in the Comedy Central series Reno 911!, for his work in Happy Madison films, most notably the 2011 film Just Go With It, and for his new Comedy Central...
), tells him of a loophole in the ban allowing him to compete in pair skating
Pair skating
Pair skating is a figure skating discipline. International Skating Union regulations describe pair teams as consisting of "one lady and one man." The sport is distinguished from ice dancing and single skating by elements unique to pair skating, including overhead lifts, twist lifts, death spirals,...
. In hopes of entering the upcoming World Winter Sport Games, Jimmy contacts his old coach, Robert, but is unable to find a partner. Jimmy's search for a last-minute partner leads him to Chazz, and Robert convinces the two to skate as a same-sex pairs team, because the regulations fail to state the genders of the pairs.
The reigning U.S. national pairs champions, brother and sister Stranz (Will Arnett
Will Arnett
William Emerson "Will" Arnett is a Canadian actor and comedian best known for his role as George Oscar "G.O.B." Bluth II on the Fox comedy Arrested Development. He is also known for his role as Devon Banks on the NBC comedy 30 Rock. Since his success on Arrested Development, Arnett has landed major...
) and Fairchild (Amy Poehler
Amy Poehler
Amy Meredith Poehler is an American comedian, actress and voice actress. She was a cast member on the NBC television entertainment show Saturday Night Live from 2001 to 2008. In 2004, she starred in the film Mean Girls with Tina Fey, with whom she worked again in Baby Mama in 2008. She is...
) van Waldenberg, see the new pair as a threat and conspire against them. The pair convince their sister Katie (Jenna Fischer
Jenna Fischer
Regina Marie "Jenna" Fischer is an American actress and director. She is most widely known for her Emmy-nominated portrayal of Pam Halpert on the NBC situation comedy and mockumentary The Office, and has also appeared in several films, including Blades of Glory, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,...
), whom they often take advantage of by reminding her that their parents died taking Katie to skating practice, to spy on the duo. In the process, Katie becomes acquainted with Jimmy and they develop a relationship. Although Chazz and Jimmy are initially disgusted by each other, they eventually develop a friendship. They compete at the United States Figure Skating Championships
United States Figure Skating Championships
The United States Figure Skating Championships is figure skating competition held annually to crown the national champions of the United States. The competition is sanctioned by U.S. Figure Skating. In the U.S. skating community, the event is often referred to informally as "Nationals".Skaters...
and earn a chance to compete at the World Winter Sport Games.
Chazz and Jimmy’s coach informs them that to win, they will need to perform a technique that has never been performed successfully: The "Iron Lotus", an extremely complicated maneuver that Robert developed years ago. However, it is also dangerous: the only attempt of the maneuver was “behind the bamboo curtain” in North Korea, and resulted in the man decapitating the woman with his skate blade. Nonetheless, they decide to attempt it as Robert is convinced that two males would be better suited for the move because of the physics of a same-sex team (this is a parody of skating-themed film The Cutting Edge
The Cutting Edge
The Cutting Edge is a 1992 romantic comedy film directed by Paul Michael Glaser and written by Tony Gilroy. The plot is about a very rich, spoiled figure skater who is paired with a has-been ice hockey player for Olympic figure skating...
, where the conflicting main characters also decide to practice a dangerous skating routine). Fairchild commands Katie to disrupt the duo by having sex with Chazz, threatening to harm Jimmy if Katie does not comply. Katie invites Chazz to her room, and tries to seduce him. Chazz refuses, delighting Katie, but cannot resist grabbing her breasts. Jimmy witnesses this and is outraged at Chazz's and Katie's betrayals.
The next day, Chazz and Jimmy are both kidnapped and restrained by Stranz and Fairchild, respectively. Katie gets tired of her siblings and accepts that their parents weren't properly safe while driving. While handcuffing Jimmy in a bathroom, Fairchild reveals that she and Stranz commanded Katie to have sex with Chazz yet she could not go through with it, due to her love for Jimmy. Chazz escapes but is pursued by Stranz through Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
on ice and then through streets and stores. He tries to shoot Chazz with a crossbow, but accidentally hits the Winter Sport Games Mascot, Snowflake Jimmy also escapes when a kid in the bathroom knocked down the bin which contains the key for the handcuff, though he had to use his tongue to drag the dirty toilet paper, as the key was on it.
Stranz and Fairchild perform their routine, a dramatization of the "Forbidden Romance" of John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
and Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
. Both Chazz and Jimmy arrive in the ice rink just in time to compete. Chazz and Jimmy reconcile quickly and begin their routine, which has a science fiction theme. Fairchild, seeing the two doing well, throws pearls onto the ice. Chazz trips over a pearl and breaks his ankle, which renders him unable to perform his role in the Iron Lotus. Jimmy then offers to switch places with him. Although they have never practiced the other's roles, they perform it perfectly. Jimmy and Chazz win the competition, Jimmy reconciles with Katie, and Stranz and Fairchild are arrested due to the kidnappings and Snowflake‘s shooting. Stranz and Fairchild begin arguing, then inexplicably kiss each other incestuously (the inside joke, of course, is that the actors Will Arnett and Amy Poehler are real-life husband and wife). Jimmy and Chazz receive the gold medal and fly off into the sky through rockets on their skates. While the credits roll, Hector is seen playing with dolls of himself, Jimmy and Chazz.
Cast
- Will FerrellWill FerrellJohn William "Will" Ferrell is an American comedian, impressionist, actor, and writer. Ferrell first established himself in the late 1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, and has subsequently starred in the comedy films Old School, Elf, Anchorman, Talladega...
as Chazz Michael Michaels - Jon HederJon HederJonathan Joseph "Jon" Heder is an American screenwriter, actor, and filmmaker. His feature film debut came in 2004 as the title character of the comedy film Napoleon Dynamite...
as James "Jimmy" MacElroy - Will ArnettWill ArnettWilliam Emerson "Will" Arnett is a Canadian actor and comedian best known for his role as George Oscar "G.O.B." Bluth II on the Fox comedy Arrested Development. He is also known for his role as Devon Banks on the NBC comedy 30 Rock. Since his success on Arrested Development, Arnett has landed major...
as Stranz Van Waldenberg - Amy PoehlerAmy PoehlerAmy Meredith Poehler is an American comedian, actress and voice actress. She was a cast member on the NBC television entertainment show Saturday Night Live from 2001 to 2008. In 2004, she starred in the film Mean Girls with Tina Fey, with whom she worked again in Baby Mama in 2008. She is...
as Fairchild Van Waldenberg - Jenna FischerJenna FischerRegina Marie "Jenna" Fischer is an American actress and director. She is most widely known for her Emmy-nominated portrayal of Pam Halpert on the NBC situation comedy and mockumentary The Office, and has also appeared in several films, including Blades of Glory, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,...
as Katie Van Waldenberg - Craig T. NelsonCraig T. NelsonCraig Theodore Nelson is an American actor. He is probably best known for his Emmy-winning roles as Hayden Fox on the TV series Coach, and as Steve Freeling in the 1982 film Poltergeist. He also starred in The Incredibles in 2004 as Mr...
as Coach Robert - Nick SwardsonNick SwardsonNicholas Roger "Nick" Swardson is an American actor, stand-up comedian, and writer. He is best known for his recurring role as Terry Bernardino in the Comedy Central series Reno 911!, for his work in Happy Madison films, most notably the 2011 film Just Go With It, and for his new Comedy Central...
as Hector - Romany MalcoRomany MalcoRomany Romanic Malco, Jr. is an American actor and music producer. He has been nominated for several awards, including an NAACP Image Award, MTV Movie Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award. Malco portrayed Conrad Shepard on the Showtime series Weeds. He most recently played George St...
as Jesse - Rob CorddryRob CorddryRobert William "Rob" Corddry is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his work as a former correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and for his starring role in the comedy film Hot Tub Time Machine...
as Bryce - William DanielsWilliam DanielsWilliam David Daniels is an American actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild . He is known for his performance as Dustin Hoffman's father in The Graduate , as John Adams in 1776, as Carter Nash in Captain Nice, as Mr. George Feeny in ABC's Boy Meets World, as the voice of KITT in...
as Commissioner Ebbers - William FichtnerWilliam FichtnerWilliam Edward Fichtner is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Sheriff Tom Underlay on Invasion, as Alexander Mahone on Prison Break, as William Sharp in Armageddon, and as Ken Rosenberg in the video games Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.- Early life...
as Darren MacElroy - Luke WilsonLuke WilsonLuke Cunningham Wilson is an American film actor known for his roles in Old School, Bottle Rocket, The Royal Tenenbaums, Legally Blonde, Idiocracy and Death at a Funeral.-Early life:...
as Sexaholics Anonymous administrator
Real skaters on set
- Sarah KawaharaSarah KawaharaSarah Kawahara is a Canadian figure skater and choreographer. She won an Emmy Award in 1997 for Scott Hamilton Upside Down and was the first skater to win the Best Choreography Emmy. She won her second Emmy in 2002 for choreographing the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics....
- Main Choreographer - Lisa Marie Allen - Assistant Choreographer
- Sasha CohenSasha CohenAlexandra Pauline "Sasha" Cohen is a U.S. figure skater. She is the 2006 Olympic silver medalist, a three-time World Championship medalist, the 2003 Grand Prix Final Champion, and the 2006 U.S. Champion.-Personal life:...
- Herself - Scott HamiltonScott Hamilton (figure skater)Scott Scovell Hamilton is an American figure skater and Olympic gold medalist. He won four consecutive U.S. championships , four consecutive World Championships and a gold medal in the 1984 Olympics....
- Himself/Commentator - Peggy FlemingPeggy FlemingPeggy Gail Fleming is an American figure skater. She is the 1968 Olympic Champion in Ladies' singles and a three-time World Champion...
- Herself/Skating Official - Brian BoitanoBrian BoitanoBrian Anthony Boitano is an American figure skater from Sunnyvale, California. He is the 1988 Olympic champion, the 1986 and 1988 World Champion, and the 1985-1988 U.S. National Champion. He turned professional following the 1988 season...
- Himself/Skating Official - Dorothy HamillDorothy HamillDorothy Stuart Hamill is an American figure skater. She is the 1976 Olympic champion in Ladies' Singles and 1976 World Champion.-Early life:...
- Herself/Skating Official - Nancy KerriganNancy KerriganNancy Ann Kerrigan is a two-time American Olympic figure skating medalist and 1993 U.S. champion.-Early life and skating career:...
- Herself/Skating Official - Chad Brennan - Will Ferrell's skating double
- Ethan BurgessEthan BurgessEthan Burgess California is an American pairs skater. In 2010 he was cast as a professional skater on the ABC show Skating with the Stars.-Biography:...
- Jon Heder's skating double - Patrick Hancock - Will Arnett's skating double / Will Ferrell's skating double 2
- Tiffany ScottTiffany ScottTiffany Scott is an American figure skater.Scott was born in Hanson, Massachusetts. She competed in pairs with partner Rusty Fein. Prior to teaming up with Fein in 2005, she skated with Philip Dulebohn, who was one of Scott and Fein's coaches during their brief partnership. She and Dulebohn...
- Amy Poehler's skating double - Todd SandTodd SandTodd Sand is an American pairs skater. He currently skates professionally with wife Jenni Meno.-Life and career:Sand was born in Burbank, California. He has dual American and Danish citizenship and early in his career, he represented Denmark as a single skater...
- Additional skating/Jon Heder - Forrest Ryan McKinnon - Chazz Stunt Skate Double Chase
- Scott IrvineScott IrvineScott Irvine is a Canadian composer, arranger, and tuba player based in Toronto. An associate of the Canadian Music Centre and a member of the Canadian League of Composers, he has been commissioned to compose works by numerous organizations, including the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the...
- Stunt Skate Double - Armen Saakian - Stunt Skate Double
- Akop Manoukian - Stunt Skate Double
- John Zimmerman - Stunts/Himself
- Kyoko InaKyoko Inais a Japanese-American figure skater. With partner John Zimmerman, she is a three-time U.S. national champion and 2002 Olympian. With partner Jason Dungjen, she was a two-time U.S. Champion and a 1994 & 1998 Olympian.- Life and career :...
- Stunts/Herself - Yuka SatoYuka Satois a Japanese figure skater. She is the 1994 World Champion, the 1990 World Junior Champion and the 1993 & 1994 Japanese national champion. She placed 7th at the 1992 Winter Olympics and 5th at the 1994 Winter Olympics.-Personal life:...
- Stunts/Herself - Jamie SaléJamie SaléJamie Rae Salé is a Canadian pair skater. With partner David Pelletier, she is a 2002 Olympic Champion and the 2001 World Champion. Salé & Pelletier's Olympic gold medal was shared with the Russian pair Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze after the 2002 Olympic Winter Games figure skating...
- Stunts/Herself - David PelletierDavid PelletierDavid Jacques Pelletier is a Canadian pairs figure skater. With his partner Jamie Salé, he was the co-gold medal winner at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games...
- Stunts/Himself - Benjamin C. Oberman - Skating Consultant
- Jonathon DePaz - On-ice Camera Operator
- Judy BlumbergJudy BlumbergJudith Ann "Judy" Blumberg is an American former ice dancer.Blumberg was born in Santa Monica, California. She and Michael Seibert won the 1981-1985 U.S. Figure Skating Championships and the 1983-1985 World bronze medalist. They placed 7th at the 1980 Winter Olympics and 4th at the 1984 Olympics...
- Amy Poehler's coach - Susan Austin - Will Ferrell's coach
- Dawn Porter - Jon Heder's coach
- Julie Brault - Skating Coach (Montreal)
- Matt EversMatt EversMatt Evers is an American pair skater, model and TV personality.-Career:With his partner Heather Allebach, Evers won the Junior pairs title at the 1998 U.S. Championships. Evers is currently training as a professional actor, model and spokesperson for U.S...
- Skate Tree 1 - 1980 Olympian Lisa-Marie AllenLisa-Marie AllenLisa-Marie Allen was an American figure skater. She won the silver medal at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships three times and competed in the 1980 Winter Olympics...
Production
All of the scenes at the United States Figure Skating ChampionshipsUnited States Figure Skating Championships
The United States Figure Skating Championships is figure skating competition held annually to crown the national champions of the United States. The competition is sanctioned by U.S. Figure Skating. In the U.S. skating community, the event is often referred to informally as "Nationals".Skaters...
and World Wintersport Games were shot at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
The Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena is a multi-purpose arena, in the University Park neighborhood, of Los Angeles, California, at Exposition Park. It is located next to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, just south of the campus of the University of Southern California.-History:The Los Angeles...
. The stadium used for the outside shoots is the unique Montreal Olympic Stadium
Olympic Stadium (Montreal)
The Olympic Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district of Montreal, Quebec, Canada built as the main venue for the 1976 Summer Olympics...
, built for the 1976 Olympics
1976 Summer Olympics
The 1976 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1976. Montreal was awarded the rights to the 1976 Games on May 12, 1970, at the 69th IOC Session in Amsterdam, over the bids of Moscow and...
. The outdoor chase scenes were also shot on-location in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
. The building used for athlete housing in Montreal was the unique Habitat 67, built for Expo 67
Expo 67
The 1967 International and Universal Exposition or Expo 67, as it was commonly known, was the general exhibition, Category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It is considered to be the most successful World's Fair of the 20th century, with the...
.
The film was delayed for a small undetermined period of time when Jon Heder
Jon Heder
Jonathan Joseph "Jon" Heder is an American screenwriter, actor, and filmmaker. His feature film debut came in 2004 as the title character of the comedy film Napoleon Dynamite...
broke his ankle while doing a skating program for the film.
Jon Heder's character answers a reporter's question in Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
. Heder speaks fluent Japanese, having spent two years in Japan as a missionary
Mormon missionary
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of the most active modern practitioners of missionary work, with over 52,000 full-time missionaries worldwide, as of the end of 2010...
for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Movie Facts
Voice clips of Will Ferrell and Jon Heder from the movie can be heard in the song "Niggas in ParisNiggas in Paris
"Niggas in Paris" is a song by American rappers Kanye West and Jay-Z, released as the fourth single from their collaboration album Watch the Throne. It debuted at #75 on the US Billboard Hot 100 on the week of the album's release...
" which appears on Jay-Z
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
and Kanye West
Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
's album, Watch the Throne
Watch the Throne
Watch the Throne is a collaborative studio album by American rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West, released on August 8, 2011, by Roc-A-Fella Records, Roc Nation, and Def Jam Recordings. Recording sessions for the album took place at various recording locations and began in November 2010. It was...
.
Box office
The movie grossed $33,014,202 on its opening weekend on March 30 — April 1 with 3,372 theaters, averaging $9,790 per screen, beating out Disney's Meet the RobinsonsMeet the Robinsons
Meet the Robinsons is a 2007 American computer-animated family film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures on March 30, 2007. The forty-seventh animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics, the film was released in both the United States and the...
to be the number 1 film. It made $22.5 million in its second weekend, losing only 32% of its audience and retaining the Number 1 spot. As of December 3, 2007 the film has made $118,245,842 in America and $26,264,403 in the foreign market place. Its worldwide tally is $145,708,642.
Critical response
The film had favorable reviews, scoring 69% "Fresh" in Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, and the critics' consensus was that "Blades of Glory successfully milks its one-joke premise into a feature-length comedy".
The Monthly
The Monthly
The Monthly is an Australian national magazine of politics, society and the arts, which is published eleven times per year on a monthly basis except the December/January issue. Founded in 2005, it is published by Melbourne property developer Morry Schwartz...
critic Luke Davies
Luke Davies
Luke Davies is an Australian writer of novels, poetry and screenplays, born in Sydney in 1962.Davies' first poetry collection, Four Plots for Magnets, was published in 1982, when he was twenty....
accepted the film as a fun romp, comparing it to Will Ferrell's previous movies Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, or simply Anchorman, is a 2004 American comedy film, directed by Adam McKay and starring Will Ferrell. The film, which was also written by Ferrell and McKay, is a tongue-in-cheek take on the culture of the 1970s, particularly the then-new Action News format...
and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is a 2006 American comedy film, directed by Adam McKay and starring Will Ferrell. The film also features John C. Reilly, Michael Clarke Duncan, Leslie Bibb, Amy Adams, Gary Cole, Jane Lynch, and Sacha Baron Cohen. Various Saturday Night Live alumni also...
and wrote positively of Ferrell's performance, describing that "there is a parodic exhilaration to everything Ferrell does; there's always the sense that any scene is precariously close to being a blooper reel." However, Davies conceded that, like the other two films, the plot was "formulaic ... [with] an obviousness to the set-ups, a no-nonsense compression, a sometimes clunky transition from one sequence to the next" but that it was the film's ability to "venture to fantastically absurd places - to set aside the rapid and hokey forward movement - and there to idle in neutral, in zones of pure comic exploration" and offer "moments of expansive hilarity ... that made the films worthwhile." Davies concluded that "Blades of Glory remains completely deadpan. Everything is self-knowing, a wink at the audience, and cheap shots are made only at the expense of the characters" and that "the film has warmth, rather than just being a series of high-grade lowbrow sketches and gags" due to "the protagonists [ability to] inhabit and fill their world, rather than come up against it, enhanc[ing] the comedy."