The Cutting Edge Synopsis: Two former Olympians, one a figure skater and the other a hockey player, pin their hopes of one last shot at Olympic glory on one another. That is, of course, if they can keep from killing each other in the process….
Kate is an ice skater going for the gold at the 1988 Winter Olympics. Doug Dorsey plays for the US Hockey Team. Kate is denied Olympic glory when her skating partner drops her during their routine. Doug suffers from an injury that affects his peripheral vision in one eye, costing him a chance to play in the NHL.
A few years later, Kate is in training again for the 1992 Olympics, but her difficult personality and perfectionism have driven away every potential skating partner she’s had. Doug works multiple jobs, including at his brother’s bar, but continues to play hockey, not wanting to give up on his dream despite every professional hockey team rejecting him.
When Kate’s coach, Anton Pamchenko, tracks down Doug and offers him a tryout to become Kate’s skating partner, he initially scoffs but realizes figure skating may be his last chance to get back on the ice. Kate and Doug are immediately antagonistic with one another, and their contentious relationship threatens their success on the ice.
It has been so long since I’ve seen The Cutting Edge, but I loved it when I was younger. It is the quintessential enemies to lovers rom-com. Moira Kelly and D.B. Sweeney are perfection as Kate and Doug, two people who could not be more different. Kate was raised with a silver spoon in her mouth. She had the best tutors and trainers and grew up with her own ice skating rink at home. Doug is from a small town in Minnesota, where he grew up among the working class. He’s certainly more laid back than Kate, and their clashing personalities create some delicious tension.
What I love so much about The Cutting Edge is the natural progression of Kate and Doug’s relationship. Watching them try to outdo one another while trading barbs is entertaining, yes, but when they slowly begin to warm up to one another, and the icy wall between them begins to melt, that’s when the movie really hits its stride.
There is reluctance, but then mutual understanding and respect between the two. The Cutting Edge doesn’t rush the blossoming relationship. While there is always an attraction, Doug and Kate become friends first, which, to me, is what makes an enemies-to-lovers rom-com successful. Fighting leading directly to sex is fine, of course, but can easily be dismissed as lust. But when they become something akin to friends first? I can absolutely buy into the characters falling in love by the movie’s end, and you know that kind of love can last.
I also think the skating sequences are entertaining to watch. They hold up well, even thirty-two years later. Director Paul Michael Glaser uses some clever editing to hide the fact that it’s not Moira Kelly and D.B. Sweeney out there on the ice performing the Pamchenko. But excluding that particular move, I read that Sweeney did a lot of his own skating, while Kelly had to depend on a stunt double after fracturing her ankle during the first week of filming. Honestly, the stunt doubles were not as easy to pinpoint in The Cutting Edge as they are in some of these physical sports movies.
The movie’s true strength is in the chemistry between Sweeney and Kelly. They’re captivating onscreen together, and it’s that chemistry – not to mention their pitch-perfect performances – that pushes The Cutting Edge past what could have easily been a formulaic, overly sentimental rom-com into something more magical.
I don’t think it will take me years to watch The Cutting Edge again. Rewatching it reminded me how fun and romantic it is and what romantic comedies could be with the proper script and two leads with incredible chemistry.
Watched: 02/10/2024
Notable Song: Feels Like Forever by Joe Crocker
