[IMDB link] Carolyn & I are both big Arrested Development fans, and love the character G.O.B., played by Will Arnett. When we saw Janeane Garofalo at the Arlington Drafthouse, she made sure to emphasize that she thought Will Arnett was one of the funniest people right now, and that he was responsible for her back injury — from falling over laughing. Thus, we decided to get some Will Arnett movies. This is movie 3 of 3 for our Will Arnett Theme Week, which consists of The Solomon Brothers, Let’s Go To Prison, and Blades Of Glory. We ended up watching them in order of IMDB rating (lowest-to-highest; this movie received 6.7/10 on IMDB.) However, if I could go back in time, I would have this theme week be in reverse order. This is the only one of the 3 movies where Will Arnett does not play the lead, and definitely the most generic of the 3 movies — it’s just a sports comedy.
PEOPLE: The actual main characters were played by Will Farrel and Jon Heder (aka Napoleon Dynamite), with Will Arnett and Amy Poehler playing the bad couple, and both Jenna Fischer (aka Pam from The Office) and Luke Wilson have parts as well — they’re both popping up all over the place (in our movies) lately. Andy Richter plays a bit part too. There are also famous ice skaters who have short cameos – Brian Boitano, Nancy Kerrigan, Dorothy Hamil, and Peggy Fleming. Check out Jon Heder‘s outfit during his solo ice skating scene in the very beginning — hilarious! Both of them are hilarious as solo skaters.
BAD STUFF: It’s about sports, and we both despise sports. (Though Carolyn actually knows how to ice skate.) Not enough Will Arnett — not enough to really be funny. But Will Farrel was pretty funny (playing the usual oversexed douchebag), which makes up for it. And of course, the plot is a bit generic — sports comedy with a romantic interest (Jon Heder & Jenna Fischer).
CONCLUSION: If you’re having a Will Arnett Theme Week like we did, you should start off with this one and get it over with. With the highest IMDB rating, it is obvious that sports have [what I consider to be] a banal hold on the populace, and that more-generic movies truly do please more crowds. But *I* liked Let’s Go To Prison better than this, and I liked The Solomon brothers better than Let’s Go To Prison… So everything is relative. Trust no one!
MOVIE QUOTES: “I see you still look like a fifteen year old girl, but not hot.” (Farrel to Heder) “When I was eight, my dad had me get a circumcision to minimalize air resistance.” (Heder)
COINCIDENCES: (Blades Of Glory, Lil Bush S2E05) 2 videos in a row where a kid said “Stranger danger!” A kid said it to Jon Heder when he tried talking to him in the men’s room. After the movie, we watched the latest Lil Bush, and Lil Cheney said “Stranger danger!” as Ann Coulter & some other woman I didn’t know tried to have sex with him and Lil Rumsfeld.
Mood: annoyed
Music: Ministry – Animosity (alternate mix) – seeing show Saturday!
Claire's blog 
May 1, 2008 at 2:02 PM
Even though it’s a sports comedy, and I’m generally not too fond of those I actually found this one pretty funny.
And I’m not really into ice skating either(doing or watching).
May 2, 2008 at 10:29 AM
I also really liked this one. I saw it in Missoula, Montana with Larry, his son and his daughter-in-law. Right as the movie began and the screen was still dark, we were already laughing because we could picture the silliness when we heard the classical music start.
I also enjoyed their facial expressions during their first pairs performance.
P.S. I love Will Arnett! He’s my favorite part of Arrested Development. Will have to check out the other movies from your theme week.
May 2, 2008 at 10:33 AM
I actually think they’re both better than Blades Of Glory! Definitely 20X more Will Arnett in both of them.
But Let’s Go To Prison is “painful funny” (like The Office with Steve Carell). (I probably said this already.)
Now, related to Blades Of Glory — you actually CAN get your throat slit while ice-skating. At least if you’re in a hockey game:
The video is not that brutal, and the guy survived, which should make it easier to watch. He had to have like 200 stitches in his thraot.
February 9, 2009 at 12:44 PM
Jon B just pointed out to me that the brother & sister in this movie (Will Arnett, Amy Poehler) are married in real life. creepy! but that could explain some of the chemistry in the movie?
March 21, 2010 at 8:06 PM
TRACKBACK: http://www.chacha.com/question/what-movie-is-the-quote-%22stranger-danger%22-from