The Film Junkie

As a pre-cursor, I just have to say that I am a Canadian girl and thus I trained and competed in various figure skating competitions as a child.  I stopped when I entered highschool, but I remain in love with the sport.  I love everything about it from the nutty costumesm, bad music arrangements and massive egos, because when it is good it is fucking amazing.

That said, I have been anticipating this movie for a long time…and it did not disappoint.

Here we have the entirely fiction tale of a pairs figure skating team of two men…oh hell yeah.

Will Ferrell plays an Elvis Stojko-esque macho skater named Chazz Michael Michaels.  He plays with the bravado of Ron Burgundy mixed with some of the stupidity of Ricky Bobby and the sexuality of his character Chazz Reinhold from ‘The Wedding Crashers’ (2005).  Yes we have seen Ferrell wear this kind of role before, but so much of the appeal of Will Ferrell is that you have no idea what inane comment could emerge from his lips at any moment.  From the concept of “mind-bottling” past the mystique of the lone wolf he so cherishes to the various dalliances with figure skating elite from Oksana Baiul to Michelle Kwan.  Ferrell is an amazingly funny man and I will continue to see his films because they are still this good (I officially forgive him for ‘Talladega Nights’).

Naplean Dynamite himself, Jon Heder co-stars as Jimmy MacElroy, a Yvegni Plushenko-type with perfect hair and perfect form, but none of the ego-diven artistry of Michaels.  Heder is great as the often feminine, but also very masculine in his ability MacElroy.  He engages in a sweet romance with Katie (’The Office’s Jenna Fischer, darling and dim in a way Pam never allows her to be), the sister of his enemies.  I would have liked to see that romance further developed, and that is the only major fault of the film.

The brilliant Will Arnett and Amy Poehler, married in real life, play the brother-sister team of Stranz and Fairchild Van Waldenberg.  They bring every creepy feeling any of us have every had about brothers and sisters touching each other that way, and elevate to a whole new level of freakishness.  Arnett is fantastically dumb and sleazy all at once, while Poehler is the mad genius behind all of their devious actions.  She relishes such a dastardly role and it is a joy watching her play with it.

The supporting cast includes Craig T. Nelson as the coach with a dream, he is much better than I could have anticipated.  Also ‘Weeds’ co-star Romany Malco as the choreographer with a whole lot of passion.  Jenna Fischer really surprised with her portrayal.  I am so used to seeing her every week as Pam, it was nice to see her in another role that is a bit similar, but also many shades different from her ‘Office’ princess.

This film never takes itself too seriously, but it also shows respect to my favorite sport.  It gets every crazy aspect of figure skating just right and ends so ridiculously I am still giggling.

Grade: A-

Really an excuse to get Charlie Chaplin on skates is good by me. The genius of slapstick stars in, wrote and directed this thinly strung together series of scenes that seems to be about a waiter who likes to get into trouble.

This 20 minute movie really has no strong plot, but it is a joy watching Chaplin do just about anything, and roller skates work well with him.

Grade: B+

I was really excited to see this movie, ‘The Awful Truth’ is one of my favorite movie and it also co-stars Irene Dunne and Cary Grant. However ‘Wife’ quickly falls apart under its own plot.

The film concerns a man who, after seven years, comes to terms with the fact that his wife died in a terrible shipwreck and decides to marry again. The very same day, his wife (Dunne) arrives back after being rescued from the island she was stranded on.

It relies very strongly on opposing forces to keep these two, obviously in love, people apart and these plot devices never really seem to work.

It is a delight seeing Dunne and Grant play off one another, but this is no ‘Truth’, it doesn’t come close.

Grade: B

A very sweet, heart-warming film about an 11 year-old girl (relative newcomer Keke Palmer) who is attempting to win the National Spelling Bee.

The film centres around Akeelah’s relationship with her mother (Angela Bassett, riveting and powerful as always), her brothers and her coach (Laurence Fishburne in a grave and understated role).

It focuses a little too much on Akeelah coming from a low-income neighbourhood without really connecting her to the place or showing the darker side of that life. Also, the other characters are fairly one-note, while Akeelah is very well developed.

It is a nice little movie with an ending that wraps up a little too nicely. It will make you feel good.

Grade: B+