Blades of Glory (2007)

Will Ferrell is the Fire God to Jon Heder’s Ice Queen in Blades of Glory

By Gary Sundt

As Printed in The Lumberjack on April 5, 2007

It began with Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, the Will Ferrell-palooza that launched the funny man beyond Old School and SNL status and into the shiny light of stardom. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby brought the same brilliance to the screen. Now, with Blades of Glory, Ferrell can safely say one thing: he may be best at being a one-joke man, but that one joke is priceless.

Blades of Glory tells the story of two male figure skaters, Chazz Michael Michaels (Ferrell) and Jimmy MacElroy (Napoleon Dynamite himself, Jon Heder) who tie for the Olympic Gold Medal, but are stripped of their title and their ability to skate after a “horrific battle” on the ice. Three years later, they discover a loophole that says, while they are banned from the men’s single competition, they can compete as a pair. Two men competing together in the professional figure skating world is unheard of, but this team will do whatever it takes on their quest to win the gold.

The colorful side characters are just as responsible for the comic brilliance as the leading man, with the hilarious Will Arnett (Arrested Development) and Amy Poehler (SNL) backing up Ferrell and Heder as their ultimate rivals. Jenna Fischer (The Office) is the icing on the cake, giving Heder somebody to love, because his partner already has somebody: himself.

I will say right now that the two are victorious, but if you didn’t know that, you don’t really know the joke: “The Ferrell” as I like to call it. The star has made a career out of having the big man win bigger. Even in Talladega, he still “technically” wins, even though he doesn’t get the trophy. Blades of Glory shakes up his classic formula, and Chazz shares his victory with Jimmy.

And don’t think that their teaming up isn’t what makes the film work. Blades of Glory would be a tired joke if it weren’t for Heder. It is the young ice queen that Heder brings to the screen that works as a perfect counterpoint to Ferrell’s manly fire God.

If you hate what Ferrell has done so far as a leading man, then Blades of Glory is not, I repeat, NOT for you. As I said before, Ferrell is pretty much a one-joke man, and that doesn’t change in this film. However, with Heder onboard, it offers a nice variation of the old formula.

The Heartbreak Kid (2007)

Ben Stiller and Malin Akerman torture one another in The Heartbreak Kid

By Gary Sundt

As Printed in The Lumberjack on October 11, 2007

Have you ever been on one of those dates that was only OK, but left a bad aftertaste in your mouth? Well, The Heartbreak Kid is a lot like that. Furthermore, your date passed the lingering taste of halitosis during that goodnight kiss.

The Heartbreak Kid is the story of a man who marries a woman and quickly realizes the fear of most newlyweds: this is a huge mistake. The movie is a remake of the remarkably more hilarious 1972 classic of the same name.

Eddie (Ben Stiller) is an incredibly shallow 40-year-old guy and Lila (Malin Akerman) is an incredibly irritating 28-year-old girl. The union of these monsters is almost unbearable to watch, and then we are introduced to Miranda (Michelle Monahan). Miranda is young, nubile and sweeter than sugar, which made me wonder why these extremely attractive women are falling for an middle class older guy oozing with a lack of moral, intellectual or emotional complexity.

Maybe Lila, Miranda and I just don’t know Eddie well enough, but when were we supposed to meet him? The Heartbreak Kid has more montages than a morning of MTV music videos.

I took the time to watch the original The Heartbreak Kid before writing this review, and there are several noticeable differences between the original and the update. In the 1972 version, we sympathize for the people involved, and the film has a huge heart. The directors of the remake, the Farrelly Brothers, have managed to do the exact opposite, complete with shallow characters and lots of toilet humor to replace the lack of a pulse.

Now I have nothing against gross-out humor. Sex and fart jokes make me laugh, and a few did here. A girl being so well-versed in sex that she doesn’t know what the missionary position is, or Eddie’s father (Jerry Stiller) attempting to sell his son on the idea of a three-way in Vegas — those are ideas I can get behind.

But then there are the not-so-great jokes. A scene with Dad and a hooker (played by the always classy Kayla Kleevage) whose implants float like balloons in the hot tub, or peeing on somebody who has been stung by a jellyfish.

I suppose I understand where the Farrellys are coming from. My brother and I would find peeing on somebody extremely funny. As a throwaway joke between us guys. When we were six.

The Farrelly Brothers have been making movies for about 13 years now. They initially hit comedy gold with Dumb and Dumber, and reached their comedic peak with 1998’s There’s Something About Mary, which also featured Stiller. After this climax, it has been a downhill slope of lesser films that never quite hit the mark of their early work. With the comeback of Stiller to the brothers’ fold, The Heartbreak Kid was to be the return to their former glory.

I think movie advertisers are getting better and better, almost Oscar-worthy. Based on the trailer, I secretly thought The Heartbreak Kid would be the comeback of the once great directing duo. Unfortunately, this story is not the right fit for the Farrellys. While the movie has some decent laughs, one can’t help but think that a little less public urination and a little more heart might have helped this movie.