With the 19th Olympic Winter Games about to begin in Salt Lake City, what better cinematic way to celebrate the occasion than to revisit Paul M. Glaser’s “The Cutting Edge.” It’s almost impossible to imagine that a full decade has passed since the film’s initial release, for this comedy tracing the “love/skate” relationship between polar opposite figure skaters still feels remarkably fresh and funny today. D.B. Sweeney and Moira Kelly, whose careers since have never quite delivered on the promise they display here, are an entertaining pair as bickering partners Doug Dorsey and Kate Mosley. She’s a pampered, prima donna Olympic hopeful figure skater who can’t seem to hold a partner; he’s an ex-hockey player whose career in that sport was cut short after an eye injury. When Doug and Kate first meet, it’s hate at first sight, but her longtime coach (Roy Dotrice) recognizes a toughness in Doug that would make him Kate’s ideal match–and how right he turns out to be, in more ways than one. Glaser and writer Tony Gilroy graft one screen formula on top of another–the romantic comedy and the underdog sports movie–and the results are as predictable as would be expected. But that doesn’t mean the film isn’t a blast to watch, due to the terrifically matched Sweeney and Kelly, who do some energetic verbal sparring with Gilroy’s funny, tart-tongued zingers.
Only a modest success during its 1992 theatrical run, “The Cutting Edge” has gone on to enjoy a durable popularity on video and cable, but MGM didn’t thank that loyal audience with the DVD edition they released last year. The treatment is as average as they come: trailer, widescreen transfer (that is nice though not free of some grain), foreign language audio tracks and subtitles. But any DVD of the film is better than having no DVD available.
Specifications: 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen; English, French, and Spanish Dolby Surround; French and Spanish subtitles; English closed captioning.
