The Cutting Edge: Going for the Gold

I really wanted to like this movie. The original was so good. I saw this one on broadcast TV. It might have been TV editing that screwed it up but there are still too many flaws. It simply doesn't measure up to the original story. It lacks the spark and pizazz of the original. Contrary to what the previous critic said, if you are going to use the same title and the same character names in this sequel, you have to invite comparison. The movie just stumbled along right until the end. There was some very nice skating but even that was kind of pieced together. I felt that every time they changed angles they were simply cutting out another fall. (Sorry, just the way it looked to me). In the end I had to ask myself why I had wasted my time.

The answer to this is Stephanie Kramer from the Hunter show. She does not show up on the credits on this site but if you look at her picture it is her. I do not if she did appear on the movie credits but I did love Hunter when it was on television and was very happy to see her in a movie. On the topic of the movie, I was rather disappointed that they did not explain more about how Kate and Doug got to the marriage and having their daughter skate as they did. I did find the scene with Alex learning to skate in front of the very young girls quit familiar as I once had to fall down in front of much younger skaters. Though he managed better then I did by accually learning to skate.

The featured comment that gives an "A+++ for good clean fun" to this film is written like a studio authored press blurb. I'm a little suspicious of the author as I just saw the DVD and I can say that this film competes with "Highlander II: The Quickening" as the worst sequel ever. I was a fan of Christy Romano until this movie. Mostly because she is hot, but also because she acts with so much energy. She had the acting breadth of a soap actress in this film. She projected three emotions; bemused, upset and completely blank, and used them over and over again, sometimes inappropriately. That would be fine for a half an hour TV show, but it was a snore here. It was like she took the Ren Stevens character from "Even Stevens", renamed her Jackie and threw her into this film. Ross Thomas did a good job of playing a "dude" character, but every non-skating scene between the two was dragged down by Ms. Romano's Jackie. As to the film itself, it played like an episode of "Baywatch" complete with montages of unrelated people and things used to transition to the next scene and pop songs in the background that drown out the actors dialog. It's "Baywatch" on ice. What a shame.

This movie was truly a disappointment. I absolutely loved the first one, and would definitely give it 10 stars! When I heard that there was a second one, I was really happy, and thought that I might enjoy it just as much as I enjoyed the first one. Well, I definitely did not!! Maybe if you just decided to watch this one and not the first one, you might like it, but to have watched the first one, and then this one, this should be a disappointment! First off they basically just copy lines and scenes from the first one, which makes it even worse, because the scenes aren't good in this movie. I have many other reasons, but to make it easier, it just wasn't good!! I mean I'm a girl who watches a lot of chick flicks, even bad ones and actually enjoy some of them! This one was horrible; so please, if your interested in this type of movie watch the first one, it is way better, funnier, and I promise you that you will enjoy it a lot more than you would enjoy this one!

Once upon time, when the earth was green, an obscure and unambitious little young adult romcom was produced in Canada. The name of the film was The Cutting Edge. To the great surprise of everyone both in front of, and behind, the camera, the film was magical, a genuine phenom, and became (and still is!) a cult classic. If you have not seen it, stop reading this and go find a copy. NOW.

(Yes, yes, I know, before the email starts, the official IMDb profile says that CE1 was a US production but if you read the fine print, you will see that all filming was done in and around Toronto. Which means that most of the production staff were Canadian. Which makes this a first-generation Canadian film. Understand this -- there is a reason that most first-gen Canadian films have never been seen or heard of again. To be able to say that CE1 actually became a classic is ... extraordinary.) OK, back to CE2, a direct to video production. The good news is the performance of Christy Carlson Romano. It is never less than good and often more than great. It literally sustains the weak script (in many places a copy of CE1) and forgettable performances from the rest of the cast. Not their fault though. Looks like it was produced on a shoestring.

I read the IMDb reviews which tout that this film is good enough to stand on its own. Ugh! Listen, if not for the success of CE1, which started the franchise, this production would never have happened. At the end of the day, THAT is the acid test.