The Cutting Edge
Encyclopedia
The Cutting Edge is a 1992 romantic comedy film
directed by Paul Michael Glaser
and written by Tony Gilroy
. The plot is about a very rich, spoiled figure skater
(played by Moira Kelly
) who is paired with a has-been ice hockey
player (played by D. B. Sweeney
) for Olympic
figure skating. They face off against a Soviet
pair in the climax of the film, which is set at the site of the 16th Winter Olympic Games, in Albertville, France. The film was also shot in Hamilton, Ontario
, Canada
.
. She has genuine talent, but years of being spoiled by her wealthy father (Terry O'Quinn
) have made her all but impossible to work with. Doug Dorsey is an exceptional hockey player with drive, skill, and a full complement of arrogance. His team is also in the Olympics. Just minutes before his match, he and Kate literally run into each other at the arena. Doug suffers an eye injury during that game which damages his peripheral vision, and he is forced to retire from the sport. Later in the Games, Kate falls during a program, costing her pair a chance at the gold medal
.
In the lead-up to the next Winter Olympics four years later, Kate has driven out all potential skating partners with her attitude and perfectionism; her coach, Anton Pamchenko (Roy Dotrice
), needs to find another replacement. He proceeds to track down Doug, who by now is back home in Minnesota
, working in a steel mill and playing in a semi-professional
hockey league on the side. Desperate for another chance at Olympic glory, Doug agrees to work as Kate's partner, even though he has a macho contempt for figure skating. However, Kate's snooty, prima donna behavior gets on his nerves immediately. The first few practices between them do not go well. In time, though, their relationship grows warmer, and they learn to work together and become a pair to be reckoned with both on and off the ice.
To everyone's surprise, they advance all the way to the finals in Albertville and look to be one of the top pairs competing for the gold. Everything is going well until they realize that they have fallen in love with each other. Doug and Kate are forced to reconcile these new feelings with their mutual desire to win at all costs.
and written by Diane Warren
and Bryan Adams
.
.
(2006), The Cutting Edge 3: Chasing the Dream
(2008), and The Cutting Edge: Fire & Ice
(2010), each with mostly different casts.
Romantic comedy film
Romantic comedy films are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as that true love is able to surmount most obstacles. One dictionary definition is "a funny movie, play, or television program about a love story that ends happily"...
directed by Paul Michael Glaser
Paul Michael Glaser
Paul Michael Glaser is an American actor and director, perhaps best known for his role as Detective David Starsky on the 1970s television series Starsky and Hutch; he also appeared as Captain Jack Steeper on the 1999 to 2005 NBC series Third Watch.-Early life:Glaser, the youngest of three...
and written by Tony Gilroy
Tony Gilroy
Anthony Joseph "Tony" Gilroy is an American screenwriter and filmmaker. He wrote the screenplays for the Bourne series starring Matt Damon, among other successful films. He has been nominated for Academy Awards for his direction and script for Michael Clayton, starring George Clooney...
. The plot is about a very rich, spoiled figure skater
Figure skating
Figure skating is an Olympic sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform spins, jumps, footwork and other intricate and challenging moves on ice skates. Figure skaters compete at various levels from beginner up to the Olympic level , and at local, national, and international competitions...
(played by Moira Kelly
Moira Kelly
Moira Kelly is an American actress. She is best known for playing single mother Karen Roe on the teen drama One Tree Hill. She also directed two episodes of the series: "Resolve" and "I Slept with Someone in Fall Out Boy and All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me"...
) who is paired with a has-been ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
player (played by D. B. Sweeney
D. B. Sweeney
Daniel Bernard "D. B." Sweeney is an American actor.-Early life:Sweeney was born on Long Island, New York and raised in Shoreham by an educator father and a municipal government employee mother. He attended Shoreham-Wading River High School and both Tulane and New York University...
) for Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
figure skating. They face off against a Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
pair in the climax of the film, which is set at the site of the 16th Winter Olympic Games, in Albertville, France. The film was also shot in Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
Plot
Kate Moseley is a world-class figure skater training for the 1988 Winter Olympics1988 Winter Olympics
The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event celebrated in and around Calgary, Alberta, Canada from 13 to 28 February 1988. The host was selected in 1981 after having beat Falun, Sweden and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy...
. She has genuine talent, but years of being spoiled by her wealthy father (Terry O'Quinn
Terry O'Quinn
Terry O'Quinn is an American actor, most famous for playing John Locke on the TV series Lost. He made his debut in a 1980 television movie called F.D.R.: The Last Year. Since then, O'Quinn has had minor supporting roles in films and TV movies such as Young Guns, All the Right Moves, Silver Bullet,...
) have made her all but impossible to work with. Doug Dorsey is an exceptional hockey player with drive, skill, and a full complement of arrogance. His team is also in the Olympics. Just minutes before his match, he and Kate literally run into each other at the arena. Doug suffers an eye injury during that game which damages his peripheral vision, and he is forced to retire from the sport. Later in the Games, Kate falls during a program, costing her pair a chance at the gold medal
Gold medal
A gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...
.
In the lead-up to the next Winter Olympics four years later, Kate has driven out all potential skating partners with her attitude and perfectionism; her coach, Anton Pamchenko (Roy Dotrice
Roy Dotrice
Roy Dotrice, OBE is a British actor known for his Tony Award-winning Broadway performance in the revival of A Moon for the Misbegotten.-Life and career:...
), needs to find another replacement. He proceeds to track down Doug, who by now is back home in Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, working in a steel mill and playing in a semi-professional
Semi-professional
A semi-professional athlete is one who is paid to play and thus is not an amateur, but for whom sport is not a full-time occupation, generally because the level of pay is too low to make a reasonable living based solely upon that source, thus making the athlete not a full professional...
hockey league on the side. Desperate for another chance at Olympic glory, Doug agrees to work as Kate's partner, even though he has a macho contempt for figure skating. However, Kate's snooty, prima donna behavior gets on his nerves immediately. The first few practices between them do not go well. In time, though, their relationship grows warmer, and they learn to work together and become a pair to be reckoned with both on and off the ice.
To everyone's surprise, they advance all the way to the finals in Albertville and look to be one of the top pairs competing for the gold. Everything is going well until they realize that they have fallen in love with each other. Doug and Kate are forced to reconcile these new feelings with their mutual desire to win at all costs.
Cast
- D. B. SweeneyD. B. SweeneyDaniel Bernard "D. B." Sweeney is an American actor.-Early life:Sweeney was born on Long Island, New York and raised in Shoreham by an educator father and a municipal government employee mother. He attended Shoreham-Wading River High School and both Tulane and New York University...
as Doug Dorsey - Moira KellyMoira KellyMoira Kelly is an American actress. She is best known for playing single mother Karen Roe on the teen drama One Tree Hill. She also directed two episodes of the series: "Resolve" and "I Slept with Someone in Fall Out Boy and All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me"...
as Kate Moseley - Roy DotriceRoy DotriceRoy Dotrice, OBE is a British actor known for his Tony Award-winning Broadway performance in the revival of A Moon for the Misbegotten.-Life and career:...
as Anton Pamchenko - Terry O'QuinnTerry O'QuinnTerry O'Quinn is an American actor, most famous for playing John Locke on the TV series Lost. He made his debut in a 1980 television movie called F.D.R.: The Last Year. Since then, O'Quinn has had minor supporting roles in films and TV movies such as Young Guns, All the Right Moves, Silver Bullet,...
as Jack Moseley - Dwier Brown as Hale Forrest
- Chris Benson as Walter Dorsey
- Kevin Peeks as Brian Newman
- Rachelle Ottley as Lorie Peckarovski
- Barry FlatmanBarry FlatmanBarry Flatman is a Canadian actor. He has appeared in many film and television roles such as Rideau Hall in which he plays a fictional Prime Minister of Canada. His other works include My Name is Tanino, The Company, Saw 3, Just Friends, H2O, and most recently in the 2008 A&E's miniseries The...
as Rick Tuttle
Music
The original music score was composed by Patrick Williams. The film's theme song "Feels like Forever" was performed by Joe CockerJoe Cocker
John Robert "Joe" Cocker, OBE is an English rock and blues musician, composer and actor, who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty voice, his idiosyncratic arm movements while performing, and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles...
and written by Diane Warren
Diane Warren
Diane Eve Warren , is a US songwriter. Her songs have received six Academy Award nominations, five Golden Globe nominations, including one win and seven Grammy Award nominations, including one win. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001...
and Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. Adams has won dozens of awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations. He has also received 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written...
.
Soundtrack
- "Cry All Night" - Neverland
- "Streets of Dreams" - Nia PeeplesNia PeeplesVirenia Gwendolyn "Nia" Peeples is an American R&B and dance music singer and actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Nicole Chapman on Fame...
- "Ride on Time" - Black BoxBlack Box (band)Black Box was an Italian house music group popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The members of the group included a trio made up of a club DJ , a classically trained clarinet teacher , and a keyboard and electronic music "wiz"...
- "Diddley Daddy" - Chris IsaakChris IsaakChristopher Joseph "Chris" Isaak is an American rock musician and occasional actor.-Early life:Isaak was born in Stockton, California, the son of Dorothy , a potato chip factory worker, and Joe Isaak, a forklift driver. Isaak's mother is Italian American, originating from Genoa...
- "Groove Master" - ArrowArrow (musician)Alphonsus Celestine Edmund Cassell MBE was a calypso and soca musician who performed under the stage name Arrow, and is regarded as the first superstar of soca from Montserrat.-Early years:...
- "Lauretta" - Malcolm McLarenMalcolm McLarenMalcolm Robert Andrew McLaren was an English performer, impresario, self-publicist and manager of the Sex Pistols and the New York Dolls...
- "Love ShackLove Shack"Love Shack" is a single by rock band The B-52's. Originally released in 1989 from their album Cosmic Thing, the single was the band's biggest hit song and first million-copy seller...
" - Rosemary ButlerRosemary ButlerRosemary Butler began her career playing bass and singing in an all-girl band named the Ladybirds. The band appeared on several LA area television shows before opening for the Rolling Stones in 1964. She then joined all-female hard rock band Birtha who released two albums for Dunhill Records... - "I've Got Dreams to Remember" - Delbert McClinton
- "Auld Lang SyneAuld Lang Syne"Auld Lang Syne" is a Scots poem written by Robert Burns in 1788 and set to the tune of a traditional folk song . It is well known in many countries, especially in the English-speaking world; its traditional use being to celebrate the start of the New Year at the stroke of midnight...
" - Rosemary Butler & Warren Weibe - "Walking the Dog" - John Townsend
- "It Ain't Over 'til It's OverIt Ain't Over 'til It's Over"It Ain't Over 'til It's Over" is a song recorded, written, and produced by American musician Lenny Kravitz for his second studio album, Mama Said . Released as the album's second single in May 1991, the song is a mid-tempo ballad, musically inspired by Motown, Philly soul, and Earth, Wind & Fire...
" - Rosemary Butler & John Townsend - "Shame Shame Shame" - Johnny WinterJohnny WinterJohn Dawson "Johnny" Winter III is an American blues guitarist, singer, and producer. Best known for his late 1960s and 1970s high-energy blues-rock albums and live performances, Winter also produced three Grammy Award-winning albums for blues legend Muddy Waters...
- "Turning Circles" - Jay Gruska
- "The RaceThe Race (Yello song)"The Race" is the first single from Yello's 1988 album Flag.-Release history:In 1988 the single was released in 7", 12" and CD formats throughout the world, and additionally as a cassette single in other places. The limited edition single contained a remix by Paul Dakeyne...
" - YelloYelloYello is a Swiss electronica band consisting of Dieter Meier and Boris Blank. They are probably best known for their singles "The Race" and "Oh Yeah", which feature a mix of electronic music and manipulated vocals, as does most of their music.... - "Baby Now I" - Dan ReedDan Reed NetworkThe Dan Reed Network is a funk rock band formed by Dan Reed in Portland, Oregon, United States, in 1984. Dan Reed lended his vocals to a 1990 rap rock collaboration with the Portland Trail Blazers, "Bust a Bucket".-Breathless beginnings:...
Reception
The Cutting Edge has a 58% rating (based on 12 reviews) on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
.
Sequels
The film was followed by sequels The Cutting Edge: Going for the GoldThe Cutting Edge: Going for the Gold
The Cutting Edge: Going for the Gold is an American romantic drama film that follows the 1992 film The Cutting Edge. The film was produced for the ABC Family cable channel in 2005 and was released on DVD in March 2006...
(2006), The Cutting Edge 3: Chasing the Dream
The Cutting Edge 3: Chasing the Dream
The Cutting Edge 3: Chasing the Dream is a 2008 American Drama and Romance film that follows the 2006 film The Cutting Edge: Going for the Gold and was followed by The Cutting Edge: Fire & Ice ...
(2008), and The Cutting Edge: Fire & Ice
The Cutting Edge: Fire & Ice
The Cutting Edge: Fire & Ice is an 2010 American drama and romance film that follows the 2008 film The Cutting Edge 3: Chasing the Dream. Francia Raisa reprises her role as Alexandra "Alex" Delgado...
(2010), each with mostly different casts.