Competitive figure skating comes so close to self-parody that poking fun at it seems a little like shooting fish in a barrel

"Blades of Glory," the new Will Ferrell comedy, has no qualms about taking aim at an easy target. Its charm, in fact, seems to rest in its willingness to let loose with both barrels on every silly excess of the sport. And, the first target is (what else?) the costumes.

Jimmy MacElroy (Jon Heder) as the pretty boy of the men's skating circuit wows the crowd with a graceful, almost delicate routine dressed as, well, a peacock complete with tail feathers attached tastefully to his bum. At the end of the performance he releases a white dove that had been concealed the whole time, one of the breathless announcers tells us, in his skintight costume. The hiding place is one of the few things in this movie left up to the viewer's imagination.

Jimmy is followed on the ice by his nemesis, Chazz Michael Michaels (Will Ferrell) in a spandex and sequin cowboy outfit. Chazz's routine is best described as "Toby Keith does disco" and Ferrell pulls out all the stops.

Forced to share the winner's podium after skating to a tie, they get into a shoving match that sets the game's mascot on fire and earns the two of them a lifetime ban from the sport.

At some point they realize there's a loophole in the ban. They've only been exiled from individual events; pairs skating is still open to them. Chazz and Jimmy team up as figure skating's first all-male pairs team and proceed to turn the sport in its head.

Once the central plot conceit is in place the scriptwriters are released from any concern for narrative intricacy or, for that matter, good taste. "Blades of Glory" barrels along like a Saturday Night Live skit on acid, throwing out gags in a dizzying succession. About half of them work but it's enough to keep you laughing at respectable intervals. More importantly, it's enough to sustain Ferrell's momentum. Ferrell pushes his performance over the top and never lets up. As a comedian, he does his best work in situations that are excruciatingly absurd and "Blades of Glory" obliges him at every turn.

Jon Heder can't keep up Ferrell's comic mania but in a way it works to the movie's advantage. While Ferrell blusters along like an affront to all that figure skating stands for, Heder looks like he was born for this Peter Pan sport. He has a waifish, lost quality that looks at home in those silly costumes. Together they create a chemistry that raises the movie from buffoonery to something approaching satire.

What makes "Blades of Glory" worth watching is an alchemy of tastelessness and inspired casting. Chazz and Jimmy run afoul of the reigning royalty of pairs figure skating, Stranz (Will Arnett from "Arrested Development") and Fairchild Van Waldenberg (Amy Poehler of SNL). Arnett and Poehler are comfortable with over-the-top comedy and attack their roles with a fearlessness that makes them a worthy match for Ferrell and Heder.

Will Ferrell has struggled in feature films with his inability to modulate his performance. His high-octane style can wear thin over an extended running time. Here he's found a supporting cast strong enough to grab the spot light and give him - and us - a break.

"Blades of Glory" is one of those movies were you laugh (a lot) and, more often than not, in spite of yourself - sometimes when every decent instinct cries out against it. At one point there's a news clip of a fictional skating accident in North Korea that would be absolutely appalling if it weren't so funny.

"Blades of Glory" is Will Ferrell's kind of movie, and when Ferrell is in his element he is definitely worth watching.

Directed by Josh Gordon and Will Speck

Rated PG-13

(Three stars)