THE CUTTING EDGE

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 3 out of 5

Because of: sexual content, language

Rated:

When an accident renders hunky Doug Dorsey unable to play the love of his life -- hockey -- any longer, he is forced to move back in with his elder brother who tends a low-profile bar in Hicksville. In the meantime bratty Kate Mosley has trashed her latest figure skating partner just in time for the championships. Frazzled, her foreign coach must find a replacement... and asks Doug to give it a try. Desperate for anything to do, Doug accepts the challenge but finds Kate a cold partner. The wealthy, talented and spoiled individual is used to having her own way. On Doug's side, well... hockey isn't about submission. The two butt heads, consistently taunt one another on and off the ice and generally start falling in love despite the fact that Kate has a London boyfriend working in "daddy's offices," and Doug is a notorious playboy who isn't above sleeping with the competition. 

When a playful hockey match between old rivals lands him in the hospital with a badly bruised nose, Kate begins to rethink their partnership. But the sting of defeat lingers from her last loss and more than anything she wants to win the championships. Big time. Doug also wants to prove to himself he can do it but what lies ahead is more dangerous and complicated than either skater could imagine... when the game turns personal, the stakes get ugly. And when the competition is tough, the competitors get tougher. Their only hope is to perform a dangerous combo that, if miscalculated, could be fatal.

The Cutting Edge is good at heart but rather too flawed for family skating. The story is bewitching -- a spoiled brat and a jock teaming up for one of the most delicate and showy arts in the world. Kate changes throughout the film but sadly Doug does not. He doesn't seem too sorry for walking in on her just out of the shower and is well-known for his wild flings. The opening scene is him dodging around trying to find his clothes and not remembering the blonde's name who is lounging comfortably in his bed. Later he sleeps with a redheaded skater -- Kate's competition -- right after he refused her indecent proposal as an added insult. Drinking and profanity mar the rest of the film which could have easily been a sweet story of romance and good intentions. Innuendos, tight clothing, and playful flirtation to the point of a drunk sexual proposition as well as lax morals and unfortunate ideas of self-worth and attitude, spoil the ice.

It truly is a pity, because the filmmaking itself is gorgeous, the scenes carefully plotted out, and the rivalry between the two main characters hilarious from the first scene when he bashes into her underground at the rink to the last and his declaration of love. The ice skating is magnificent and the score cute and bubbly but considering the above, I'm sorry to say that I wouldn't give it a spin more than once, if at all. This kind of thing may be passé in Hollywood but from where I come from it's skating on thin ice.