''The Cutting Edge'' is a 1992 American

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

film directed by

Paul Michael Glaser Paul Michael Glaser (born Paul Manfred Glaser; March 25, 1943) is an American actor, director, and writer whose career has spanned five decades. He made his acting debut in the television series ''Love Is a Many Splendored Thing'' and went on ...

and written by

Tony Gilroy Anthony Joseph Gilroy (born September 11, 1956) is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. He wrote the screenplays of '' The Bourne Identity'' (2002), ''The Bourne Supremacy'' (2004), and '' The Bourne Ultimatum'' (2007), the first thr ...

. The plot is about a wealthy, temperamental

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic d ...

(played by

Moira Kelly Moira Kelly (born March 6, 1968) is an American actress. She is known for portraying Kate Moseley in the 1992 film '' The Cutting Edge'' as well as single mother Karen Roe on the teen drama '' One Tree Hill''. She is also known for playing the ...

) who is paired with an injury-sidelined

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player (played by

D. B. Sweeney Daniel Bernard Sweeney (born November 14, 1961) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Jackie Willow in Francis Ford Coppola's '' Gardens of Stone'' (1987), Lt. Phil Lowenthal in '' Memphis Belle'' (1990), and Travis Walton in '' Fire ...

) for

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

figure skating. Competing at the

1992 Winter Olympics The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Albertville '92 (Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile '92''), were a winter multi-sport event held from 8 to 23 February 1992 in and aroun ...

Albertville Albertville (; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile'') is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Savoie Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It is best k ...

, France, they have a climactic face-off against a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

pair. It spawned a

film series A film series or movie series is a collection of related films in succession that share the same fictional universe, or are marketed as a series. It is a type of series fiction. This article explains what film series are and gives brief examples ...

including a number of sequels. The film was primarily shot in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

, Canada. The film has come to be known as a

cult classic A cult following is a group of Fan (person), fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some List of art media, medium. The latter is often cal ...

Plot

Kate Moseley is a world-class figure skater representing the United States in the pairs event at the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Calgary 1988 were a multi-sport event held from February 13 to 28, 1988, with Calgary, Calgary, Alberta as the main host city. This marks the m ...

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

. She has genuine talent, but years of being spoiled by her wealthy widower father Jack have made her impossible to work with. Doug Dorsey is captain of the U.S. ice hockey team at the same Winter Olympics. Just minutes before a game, he and Kate collide in a hallway in the arena. During the game, Doug suffers a head injury that permanently damages his peripheral vision, costing him a shot to play in the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

and forcing him to retire from ice hockey. During Kate's event, her partner apparently accidentally drops her, albeit with little sign of regret or concern, during their program, costing them a chance at the

gold medal A gold medal is a 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. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

. While training for the

over the next two years, Kate drives away all potential skating partners with her attitude and perfectionism. Her coach, Russian native Anton Pamchenko, has to find a replacement, an outsider who doesn't know that Kate is spoiled and difficult. He tracks down Doug, who is back home in

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, working in a steel mill and as a carpenter on the side, living with his brother, and playing in a hockey bar league. Desperate for another chance at Olympic glory, Doug agrees to work as Kate's partner, even though he has macho contempt for figure skating. Kate's snooty,

prima donna In opera or ''commedia dell'arte'', a prima donna (; Italian for 'first lady'; : ''prime donne'') is the leading female singer in the company, the person to whom the ''prime'' roles would be given. ''Prime donne'' often had grand off-stage pe ...

behavior gets on his nerves immediately, and their first few practices do not go well as they antagonize each other. However, they develop a mutual respect as both strive to outdo each other in work ethic. As their relationship grows warmer, they learn to set aside their differences, becoming a pair to be reckoned with both on and off the ice. Kate even boldly defends Doug to her former coach who patronizes and insults them, and Doug defends his unusual choice of sport to his own family and friends, whom he had expected to mock him. At the U.S. Nationals, despite strong performances in the short program and long program, they seem to place third, shattering their Olympic dreams. However, when one of the leading pairs falls during the competition, they advance to second place, earning their spot on the Olympic team. However, their potential is threatened by their growing attraction to each other. Kate attempts to seduce Doug after a night of drunken celebration, revealing that she broke off her engagement to wealthy financier Hale Forrest. Usually a ladies' man, Doug uncharacteristically rebuffs her advances, fearing the possibility of regret and loss of respect for each other. When Kate discovers that Doug has slept with another woman (a rival skater) almost immediately after leaving her to sleep off her intoxication, she becomes enraged. However, the temporary rift is set aside as they attempt to train in a risky skating move invented by Pamchenko, which will assure them a gold medal if they can pull it off without serious injury. At the finals at the

Olympics, they look to be one of the top pairs competing for the gold. However, another argument threatens their chemistry on the ice, and in the process Doug and Kate both discover that Kate is the fallible partner after all. Before getting on the ice for their decisive performance, Doug professes to Kate that he has fallen in love with her, leaving Kate overcome with emotion, and she decides they are going to do the Pamchenko. They proceed to skate with a passion neither had shown before, performing the Pamchenko flawlessly to win them the gold medal. Kate tells Doug she also loves him and they kiss each other before the cheering crowd.

Cast

as Doug Dorsey *

as Kate Moseley *

Roy Dotrice Roy Dotrice (26 May 1923 – 16 October 2017) was a British stage and screen actor. He played the antiquarian John Aubrey in the solo play '' Brief Lives''. He won a Tony Award for his performance in the 2000 Broadway revival of '' A Moon for ...

as Anton Pamchenko *

Terry O'Quinn Terrance Quinn (born July 15, 1952), known professionally as Terry O'Quinn, is an American actor. He won a Primetime Emmy Award for his performance as John Locke on the TV series '' Lost'' (2004–2010). In film, he also played the title role i ...

as Jack Moseley *

Dwier Brown Dwier Brown (born January 30, 1959) is an American actor. In the 1989 film ''Field of Dreams'' he played John Kinsella, the father of Kevin Costner's character, and he played Henry Mitchell in '' Dennis the Menace Strikes Again'' in 1998. Brown ...

as Hale Forrest * Chris Benson as Walter Dorsey * Michael Hogan as Doctor * Kevin Peeks as Brian Newman * Rachelle Ottley as Lorie Peckarovski *

Barry Flatman Barry Flatman (born March 12, 1950) is a Canadian actor. He began his career as a member of the comedy troupe Homemade Theatre Company, with whom he appeared on the CBC Television sketch comedy series '' Stay Tuned'' (1976–1977). Flatman later ...

as Rick Tuttle *

Christine Hough Christine "Tuffy" Hough (born October 9, 1969) is a Canadian former pair skater. With Doug Ladret, she is the 1988 Canadian Figure Skating Championships, Canadian national champion and finished in the top ten at two Winter Olympics, in Figure sk ...

and

Doug Ladret Douglas James Ladret (born November 13, 1961) is a Canadian figure skating coach and former competitive pair skater. With Christine Hough, he is the 1987 Skate Canada International champion, 1989 NHK Trophy bronze medallist, and 1988 Canadian n ...

, as Soviet team Smilkov and Brushkin. This Canadian figure skating pair finished ninth in the actual Olympic competition portrayed in the film, just six weeks before the film was released. * Sharon Carz - skating double for Kate Moseley * John Denton - skating double for Doug Dorsey

Music

The original music score was composed by Patrick Williams. The film's theme song "Feels Like Forever" was performed by

Joe Cocker John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances featuring expressive body movements. Most of his best-known singles, such as "Feelin' Alright ...

and written by

Diane Warren Diane Eve Warren (born September 7, 1956) is an American songwriter. She has won an Academy Honorary Award, Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, two Golden Globe Awards and three consecutive ''Billboard'' Music Awards for Songwriter of the Year from 19 ...

and

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born November 5, 1959) is a British and Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million album, records and Single (music), si ...

Soundtrack

The soundtrack album was originally released by

Rykodisc Rykodisc is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, operating as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance. History Claiming to be the first CD-only independent record label ...

in 1998; in 2004 it was reissued by

Varèse Sarabande Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, owned by Concord Music Group and distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and cast recording, original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums, as ...

with 20 minutes of Patrick Williams' score (tracks 11–22). # Street of Dreams –

Nia Peeples Virenia "Nia" Peeples (born December 10, 1961) is an American R&B and dance music singer and actress. Peeples is known for playing Nicole Chapman on the TV series ''Fame (1982 TV series), Fame''; Pam Fields on the drama ''Pretty Little Liars''; ...

# Cry All Night –

Neverland Neverland is a fictional island featured in the works of J. M. Barrie and those based on them. It is an imaginary faraway place where Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, Captain Hook, the Lost Boys, and some other imaginary beings and creatures live. ...

# Ride On Time –

Black Box In science, computing, and engineering, a black box is a system which can be viewed in terms of its inputs and outputs (or transfer characteristics), without any knowledge of its internal workings. Its implementation is "opaque" (black). The te ...

# Groove Master –

Arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...

It Ain't Over 'til It's Over "It Ain't Over 'til It's Over" is a song written, produced, and performed by American musician Lenny Kravitz for his second studio album, '' Mama Said'' (1991). Released as the album's second single in June 1991 by Virgin, the song is a mid-tem ...

– Rosemary Butler & John Townsend # Shame Shame Shame –

Johnny Winter John Dawson Winter III (February 23, 1944 – July 16, 2014) was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. Winter was known for his high-energy blues rock albums, live performances, and slide guitar playing from the late 1 ...

# Turning Circles – Sally Dworsky # Baby Now I –

Dan Reed Network Dan Reed Network is an American funk rock band formed in 1984 by Dan Reed in Portland, Oregon. They released several albums during the 1980s and achieved one top-40s hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1988. History Formation Dan Reed (bor ...

# I've Got Dreams to Remember –

Delbert McClinton Delbert McClinton (born November 4, 1940) is an American blues rock and electric blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, harmonica player, and pianist. From his first professional stage appearance in 1957 to his most recent national tour in 2018, h ...

# Feels Like Forever (Theme From ''The Cutting Edge'') –

# Ich Namen Gita/Olympic Hockey # Battle of the CD's # Limo to Mansion/Nine Months Later # Kate Skates Alone # Chicago Practices # Hoedown # Tequila # Olympic Fanfare/Dubois & Gercel # Doug & Kate Get Angry # The Russians Skate # Finale # End Credits The following songs are heard in the movie but not included on the soundtrack album: * Lauretta –

Malcolm McLaren Malcolm Robert Andrew McLaren (22 January 1946 – 8 April 2010) was an English fashion designer and music manager. He was a promoter and a manager for punk rock and new wave bands such as New York Dolls, Sex Pistols, Adam and the Ants, and ...

Love Shack "Love Shack" is a song by American new wave band the B-52's from their fifth studio album, ''Cosmic Thing'' (1989). It was released on June 20, 1989, and was produced by Don Was. The song was a comeback for the band, following their decline in ...

–

Rosemary Butler Rosemary Butler may refer to: * Rosemary Butler (politician) Dame Rosemary Janet Mair Butler (''née'' McGrath; born 21 January 1943) is a British politician who served as Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales (now Llywydd of ...

Auld Lang Syne "Auld Lang Syne" () is a Scottish song. In the English-speaking world, it is traditionally sung to bid farewell to the old year at the stroke of midnight on Hogmanay/New Year's Eve. It is also often heard at funerals, graduations, and as a far ...

– Rosemary Butler &

Warren Wiebe Warren Ray Wiebe (July 18, 1953 – October 25, 1998) was an American vocalist and session musician best known for his work with David Foster, Jay Graydon, Celine Dion, Quincy Jones, his recordings on soundtracks and his performances of the nat ...

* Walking the Dog – John Townsend * The Race –

Yello Yello is a Swiss electronic music band, which formed in Zürich in 1979. For most of the band's history, Yello has been a duo consisting of Dieter Meier and Boris Blank; founding member Carlos Perón left in 1983. Their sound is often charac ...

Diddley Daddy "Diddley Daddy" is a song by Bo Diddley. The song was issued as a single on Checker Records in June 1955. His second single, it followed on the heels of the success of the eponymous "Bo Diddley". The song spent four weeks on the Billboard R&B char ...

–

Chris Isaak Christopher Joseph Isaak (born June 26, 1956) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional actor. Noted for his reverb-laden rockabilly revivalist style and wide vocal range, he is popularly known for his breakthrough hit and sig ...

Reception

''The Cutting Edge'' was released on March 27, 1992, and grossed $25,105,517 domestically. The film was met with mixed critical reviews. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, it has an approval rating of 57% based on 35 reviews, with the site's consensus: "Part contrived romance, part hackneyed sports drama, ''The Cutting Edge'' shows how difficult it can be to figure skate through cheese." Audiences surveyed by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...

gave the film a grade "A−" on scale of A to F. Of the leads, Kevin Thomas of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' wrote "Kelly and Sweeney are evenly matched", and the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

''s

Gene Siskel Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune'' who co-hosted a movie review television series alongside colleague Roger Ebert. Siskel started writing for the '' ...

said "the chemistry between the co-stars makes it work". Thomas added, "the entire cast and crew deserve full marks for their determination in making something special out of material that so easily could have been bland, predictable or sentimental". In another positive review,

Stephen Holden Stephen Holden (born July 18, 1941) is an American writer, poet, and music and film critic. Biography Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963. He worked as a photo editor, staff writer, and eventually be ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' said, "Ms. Kelly's uncompromising portrayal of a high-strung prima donna whose outrageous willfulness masks a girlish vulnerability gives the picture a big charge of energy." In ''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news. Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publi ...

'',

Stephen Hunter Stephen Hunter (born March 25, 1946, in Kansas City, Missouri) is an American novelist, essayist, and film critic. Life and career Hunter was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and grew up in Evanston, Illinois. His father was Charles Francis Hunte ...

described it as "

Taming of the Shrew ''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a Frame story, framing device, often referred to as the Induction (play), inducti ...

on ice" and pointed out its lack of realism, but said that it made for an enjoyable film with charm.

Pop culture

''The Cutting Edge'' is referenced multiple times by the fictional Trevor Lefkowitz in the American version of ''

Ghosts In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

'', as it is one of his favorite films.https://www.imdb.com/title/tt33528713/

Sequels

The film was followed by several sequels: '' The Cutting Edge: Going for the Gold'' (2006), '' The Cutting Edge: Chasing the Dream'' (2008) and '' The Cutting Edge: Fire and Ice'' (2010), each with mostly different casts. The first sequel, which involves the couple's daughter, moves the timing of ''The Cutting Edge'' from 1992 back to the

1984 Winter Olympics The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games (Serbo-Croatian language, Serbo-Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, Serbian Cyrillic: ; ) and commonly known as Sarajevo '84 (Serbian Cy ...

so that their daughter could be 21 at the time of the sequel.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cutting Edge, The 1992 films 1992 romantic comedy-drama films 1990s American films 1990s English-language films 1990s sports comedy-drama films American ice hockey films American romantic comedy-drama films American sports comedy-drama films Films about Olympic figure skating Films about the 1988 Winter Olympics Films about the 1992 Winter Olympics Films based on The Taming of the Shrew Films directed by Paul Michael Glaser Films scored by Patrick Williams (composer) Films set in 1988 Films set in 1992 Films shot in Hamilton, Ontario Films with screenplays by Tony Gilroy Interscope Communications films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films English-language romantic comedy-drama films English-language sports comedy-drama films