Spring Break
Heder, Poehler light up sequins, ice
LAUREN MORGAN
Issue date: 3/29/07 Section: Out & About
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What does it take to get a gold medal in the comedy Olympics? A triple Lutz of "Saturday Night Live" cast members, a double Salchow of Napoleon Dynamite, a true coach and ice skates.
"Blades of Glory," opening Friday, has the makings of world class comedy.
The plot begins at the 2002 World Figure Skating Championships when two rival ice skaters Chazz Michael Michaels (Will Ferrell) and Jimmy MacElroy (Jon Heder) were stripped of their gold medals and permanently banned from men's singles competition. However, the dubious duo found a loophole that will allow them to get back on the ice - as a pairs team.
"When I heard the plot and concept, I was sold right away," Heder said in a conference call. "You don't see this kind of comedy that often."
Of course there must be drama on and off the ice, and it comes in the form of Stranz (Will Arnett) and Fairchild (Amy Poehler) Van Waldenburg.
"Me and Will, we play a brother and sister team that have won the gold a few times, so we're the reigning champions," Poehler said in a phone interview. "And when Will and Jon Heder's characters decide to pair up as men for the first time, we're furious at the attention that they get, and so we spend most of the film trying to bring them down in various ways."
So is Fairchild a Nancy Kerrigan or Tonya Harding?
"Fairchild is kind of like that kind of evil girl who would sit on the top of a cake. She looks sweet, but inside she's very sour," Poehler said. "Nancy Kerrigan is actually in the movie."
Other famous figure skaters - Sasha Cohen, Brian Boitano, Scott Hamilton and Dorothy Hamill - also make cameos.
The ultimate obstacle in making a movie about figure skating is getting the actors comfortable on the ice.
"It was a challenge, but I loved it. I was extremely excited to learn a new skill ... and that's awesome because I like to rack up the skills," Heder said.
Heder said he and Ferrell made up a few of their own moves, such as "love dust."
"Blades of Glory," opening Friday, has the makings of world class comedy.
The plot begins at the 2002 World Figure Skating Championships when two rival ice skaters Chazz Michael Michaels (Will Ferrell) and Jimmy MacElroy (Jon Heder) were stripped of their gold medals and permanently banned from men's singles competition. However, the dubious duo found a loophole that will allow them to get back on the ice - as a pairs team.
"When I heard the plot and concept, I was sold right away," Heder said in a conference call. "You don't see this kind of comedy that often."
Of course there must be drama on and off the ice, and it comes in the form of Stranz (Will Arnett) and Fairchild (Amy Poehler) Van Waldenburg.
"Me and Will, we play a brother and sister team that have won the gold a few times, so we're the reigning champions," Poehler said in a phone interview. "And when Will and Jon Heder's characters decide to pair up as men for the first time, we're furious at the attention that they get, and so we spend most of the film trying to bring them down in various ways."
So is Fairchild a Nancy Kerrigan or Tonya Harding?
"Fairchild is kind of like that kind of evil girl who would sit on the top of a cake. She looks sweet, but inside she's very sour," Poehler said. "Nancy Kerrigan is actually in the movie."
Other famous figure skaters - Sasha Cohen, Brian Boitano, Scott Hamilton and Dorothy Hamill - also make cameos.
The ultimate obstacle in making a movie about figure skating is getting the actors comfortable on the ice.
"It was a challenge, but I loved it. I was extremely excited to learn a new skill ... and that's awesome because I like to rack up the skills," Heder said.
Heder said he and Ferrell made up a few of their own moves, such as "love dust."
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Angela
posted 3/29/07 @ 10:53 PM EST
Another terrible movie from Will Ferrell. Yay.
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