The Cutting Edge (1992)

A temperamental figure skater and a former hockey player try to win Olympic gold as a figure skating pairs team.

Director:

Paul Michael Glaser (as Paul M. Glaser)

Writer:

Tony Gilroy

Stars:

D.B. Sweeney, Moira Kelly, Roy Dotrice

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
D.B. Sweeney	...	Doug Dorsey
Moira Kelly	...	Kate Moseley
Roy Dotrice	...	Anton Pamchenko
Terry O'Quinn	...	Jack Moseley
Dwier Brown	...	Hale Forrest
Chris Benson	...	Walter Dorsey
Kevin Peeks	...	Brian Newman
Barry Flatman	...	Rick Tuttle
Rachelle Ottley	...	Lorie Peckarovski
Steve Sears	...	Spindler
Nahanni Johnstone	...	Gita
Michael Hogan	...	Doctor
R.D. Reid	...	Calgary Cop
Dick Grant	...	Olympic Commentator
Melanie Miller	...	Olympic Commentator

Storyline

Doug Dorsey is a hockey player for the US team in the 1988 winter Olympics. After a vicious game against West Germany. We then see figure skater, Kate Moseley doing her program and falling. Both have fought hard to get to the Olympics, and suddenly their dreams have been shattered. Kate, a temperamental but talented figure skater, has had many partners, until her coach recruits hockey player Dorsey. Through the difficult training of 15 hours of skating a day, they finally prepare for nationals and the Olympics. A romance blooms, and their final show could make or break them as they try to achieve their dreams of Olympic gold.

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Plot Keywords:

bare chested male | olympics | coach | figure skating | hockey | 

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Taglines:

Theirs is a love/skate relationship

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance | Sport

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Paul Michael Glaser: one of the tailors in the costume design scene.

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Goofs

In the press conference at the Albertville Olympics, a photographer has a 500mm lens on his camera (it's the one with a small black disc in the middle of the lens.) This is the sort of lens you would use outside to shoot across a football field or nature photography, not inside.

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Quotes

[Doug drops Kate on her rear]
Kate: [shouting] You, you cretin!
Doug: Guess that move needs some work.

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Alternate Versions

The Spanish cut runs longer at 102 mins.

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Connections

Followed by The Cutting Edge 3: Chasing the Dream (2008)

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Soundtracks

Love Shack
Written by Fred Schneider (as Frederick Schneider), Kate Pierson (as Catherine Pierson), Keith Strickland & Cindy Wilson
Performed by Rosemary Butler
Produced by Scott Humphrey

User Reviews

5.9...5.8....5.9....6.0....5.7.....5.9.......

Take a handsome young ex-hockey star who could never do much other than skate, a prima-donna figure-skater who finds fault with every world-class partner thrown her way and laughs at said ex-hockey star, and an obligatory crazy-genius Soviet expatriate, send them all after Olympic glory, and you have The Cutting Edge.

Lead characters Doug Dorsey (D.B. Sweeney) and Kate Moseley (Moira Kelly) are star-crossed skaters: an eye injury at the Olympics ruined Doug's hockey career, while an ill-timed fall in the pairs figure skating finals leaves Kate's destiny unfulfilled. Coach Anton Pamchenko (Roy Dotrice) fishes Dorsey out of a construction site and transplants him to the Moseley estate in Greenwich. The fish-out-of-water concept was not as blatant as Pauly Shore's movies, but it was definitely there.

The stereotypical supporting cast did its job: Terry O'Quinn is the wealthy, doting father who is either obsessed with an Olympic medal for his daughter, or obsessed with his daughter who happens to want an Olympic medal (the movie never really makes clear which), while snobby fiancé Hale Forrest (Dwier Brown) is forgettable yet necessary to the plot, as is Walter Dorsey (Chris Benson), Doug's stereotypical nuts-and-bolts, slightly homophobic and very skeptical brother.

With Breakfast Club-like cost-efficiency, the film sticks to the dialogue between the few main characters, who are on screen for the large majority of the film. The questions are timeless: will Kate marry her snobby fiancé or will passion erupt from the love-hate relationship with her skating partner? Will they overcome the judging bias against ex-hockey players and win gold? Will Kate loosen up? Will Doug gain some culture and refinement? One could say that this film is predictable, but that is a good thing. Films like The Cutting Edge lose very little even if you've heard the story told a hundred times in a dozen ways. Suspense is not the goal here; romance is, and this film serves up more of it than almost every media-hyped "blockbuster" I've ever seen.

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

USA

Language:

English French Russian

Release Date:

27 March 1992 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Cutting Edge

Filming Locations:

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,478,919, 29 March 1992

Gross USA:

$25,105,517

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$25,105,517

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Interscope Communications

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1