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If you’ve seen the Will Ferrell movie generator, you know the major storyline of the movie. The sidekick in this case is Jon Heder. The surprise cameo is Luke Wilson as a sex therapist. Romany Malco is fun as an effeminate (if not actually gay) choreographer–a bit of a change from the tough guy drug dealer from Weeds. Ferrell does a pretty decent job channelling Jim Morrison (with the long, wavy hair, aviators and leather pants). And I have to give credit to Craig T. Nelson playing the coach—a little self-deprecating humour goes a long way for me. Some good, fun performances from Will Arnett and Amy Poehler. It’s a shame Jenna Fischer‘s character isn’t better developed, she’s shown a lot of promise in The Office.

Overall, dudes figure skating is a fun, original premise, but we’ve seen similar with Dodgeball, Kicking & Screaming and Zoolander (and the upcoming Balls of Fury). Again, sadly, it completely fits the standard Will Ferrell plot outline, so there’s nothing really new. The solid ensemble cast comes with good comedy backgrounds, but they need a more original story to make it work.

6 out of 10 saltines. It’s a renter, “same old, same old” only goes so far.