User reviews

Once upon time, when the earth was green, an obscure and unambitious little young adult romcom was produced in Canada. The name of the film was The Cutting Edge. To the great surprise of everyone both in front of, and behind, the camera, the film was magical, a genuine phenom, and became (and still is!) a cult classic. If you have not seen it, stop reading this and go find a copy. NOW.

(Yes, yes, I know, before the email starts, the official IMDb profile says that CE1 was a US production but if you read the fine print, you will see that all filming was done in and around Toronto. Which means that most of the production staff were Canadian. Which makes this a first-generation Canadian film. Understand this -- there is a reason that most first-gen Canadian films have never been seen or heard of again. To be able to say that CE1 actually became a classic is ... extraordinary.) OK, back to CE2, a direct to video production. The good news is the performance of Christy Carlson Romano. It is never less than good and often more than great. It literally sustains the weak script (in many places a copy of CE1) and forgettable performances from the rest of the cast. Not their fault though. Looks like it was produced on a shoestring.

I read the IMDb reviews which tout that this film is good enough to stand on its own. Ugh! Listen, if not for the success of CE1, which started the franchise, this production would never have happened. At the end of the day, THAT is the acid test.

I really wanted to like this movie. The original was so good. I saw this one on broadcast TV. It might have been TV editing that screwed it up but there are still too many flaws. It simply doesn't measure up to the original story. It lacks the spark and pizazz of the original. Contrary to what the previous critic said, if you are going to use the same title and the same character names in this sequel, you have to invite comparison. The movie just stumbled along right until the end. There was some very nice skating but even that was kind of pieced together. I felt that every time they changed angles they were simply cutting out another fall. (Sorry, just the way it looked to me). In the end I had to ask myself why I had wasted my time.

This movie tries too hard to capitalize on the original, yet it seems as though the producer/directors didn't really see it. The interplay between the leading characters seems contrived, not at all as thoroughly charged and enjoyably funny as that from Doug and Kate in the first movie. Where there are clear parallels between the two, they come off flat. Where it really suggests to me that the producers didn't even study the magic of the first movie, is the casting of the new Kate and Doug. Who saw any of Moira Kelly's charm and fire in Stepfanie Kramer's character. In a word, she was wimpish. And does anyone see Scott Thompson Baker getting on the ice with DB Sweeney. And together they were just blah. Sequels always pale in comparison to the original, but this film could have been cute with a better script, and the two new characters contrasted with more colorful versions of Kate and Doug. A big disappointment!!

Jackie Dorsey (Christy Carlson Romano) is the daughter of Olympic skaters Kate Mosley and Doug Dorsey (from the first Cutting Edge film). She has been a singles skater, and a fine one but, during a competition, she falls hard and breaks a leg. Her parents are very concerned but doctors say the leg will heal and Jackie is determined to skate again. However, the young, very lovely ice princess decides to become a pairs skater, thinking that she can rely on the support of a partner, should her leg give her trouble. While continuing the healing process on a California beach, Jackie meets Alex (Ross Thomas), a hotshot surfer and line skater. A romance begins but he doesn't know who she is and she doesn't know that he might already have a girlfriend. When these revelations come to light, Jackie heads back to Connecticut, in a huff. Nevertheless, Alex begins skating lessons in a quest to become Jackie's new partner. Amazingly, he is a natural and, although Jackie is very reluctant, at first, they become a winning duo. Yet, complications are still present, for Alex and Jackie run hot and cold, on and off the ice, and Alex's old girlfriend re-enters the picture right before the Olympics. How will this mixed-up twosome fare in the most important competition of their lives? This is a nice film for fans of the first movie and of romantic drama in general. In fact, it echoes the original flick on many occasion, from Jackie's prima donna attitude, like her mother, Kate's, to Alex's wandering eye for the female sex, just like Jackie's dad, Doug Dorsey. Then, too, if the two main actors, Romano and Thomas, are not quite on par with Moira Kelly and D.B. Sweeney, of the first film, they are attractive and talented in their own ways. Naturally, the scale of the movie is not as grand, either in costuming, sets, or production but it is certainly adequate. As for the skating scenes, they are very nice indeed. A number of real life skating stars, including Oksana Baiul, make cameos so, dear viewer, keep a watch out. There are, perhaps, some viewers who may object to the fast-and-loose morals of Alex, with good reason. Therefore, parents might want to watch and discuss the film with their children before a joint viewing. But, really, this is quite a nice movie for lovers of skating and/or romance. Although it may not be a "gold medal" flick, it is certainly able to happily entertain its target audience.

For what it was, it was OK...a lot like the original movie especially with the spoiled-ness and getting everything handed to her. The same on the flipping the skirt up. It did clear up the ending of the original when it was left unclear whether or not Kate and Doug medaled after their program. I did think perhaps the original Kate and Doug would have captured more attention and maybe made the ratings a little better. Little disappointed on the new Christy Carlson-R...hard to see her go from a sweet innocent girl to a girl drinking and swearing. But who was Luanne in the movie? I had seen Christine Larkin in "Step By Step" but didn't recognize her in this movie. And who played Kate? I didn't see her character listed in the cast credits...maybe someone can shed some light on this.

A young ice skater injures herself and has to team up with a roguish hunk to compete at the Olympics.

Now this is never going to win any awards for originality but I think everyone understands that when they commit to watching it.

All the elements ares there, comedy, romance, betrayal, redemption, etc. etc.

I think Christy Romano is a beautiful and expressive actress and she seems very at home here as does Ross Thomas. The two make a cute couple and there are some great scenes of them bickering on and off the ice.

The problems with this film are really endemic of the format. I had to take three runs at this film as the opening scene is so cheap it put me off. The limitation in the budget shows through in places, especially with the crowd scenes at the competitions.

There are a few seconds of unnecessary CGI that are just plain bad, a step ladder and a watering can would have done a much better job.

The victory move is quite laughable but kind of in keeping with the film.

A great Sunday afternoon watch.

This movie was truly a disappointment. I absolutely loved the first one, and would definitely give it 10 stars! When I heard that there was a second one, I was really happy, and thought that I might enjoy it just as much as I enjoyed the first one. Well, I definitely did not!! Maybe if you just decided to watch this one and not the first one, you might like it, but to have watched the first one, and then this one, this should be a disappointment! First off they basically just copy lines and scenes from the first one, which makes it even worse, because the scenes aren't good in this movie. I have many other reasons, but to make it easier, it just wasn't good!! I mean I'm a girl who watches a lot of chick flicks, even bad ones and actually enjoy some of them! This one was horrible; so please, if your interested in this type of movie watch the first one, it is way better, funnier, and I promise you that you will enjoy it a lot more than you would enjoy this one!

The movie is an updated retelling of The Cutting Edge. This time showcasing the daughter of Kate Mosley and Doug Dorsey named Jackie. Forget about the original as you sit down to watch this movie. This is a stand alone movie with its own storyline that does not keep the daughter in the shadow of her own parents. She makes her own success and failures. She is the perfect blend of her parents best and worst attitudes.

It shows the struggle entailed when you need to get back on your feet in a totally different world than what you are used to. It's always nice to have a companion when going down a new road. Specially when you are both new to that world (pair skating) and have to learn to become one. It also helps when Jackie's companion (Alex) turns out to be the best friend and enemy she can have as he mirrors her own strengths and weaknesses. Alex forces Jackie to realize that she can't do everything alone and yeah, it's okay to show your emotions. Without Alex, Jackie had all but forgotten that "It's not worth winning if you don't fight for it."

It is nice to see the characters as less rigid than their original counterparts. With the love story taking place both on and off the ice. It shows that athletes are human as well and enjoy the occasional time off to celebrate and just kick back and relax. With Jackie's parents being supportive all the way and allowing her room to make mistakes and correct them with their love, support and guidance.

The movie is a good companion piece to The Cutting Edge. It caters to a whole new generation of fans and is destined to become a classic on its own eventually. A+++ for good clean fun.

I thought the film was very good and it was great to observe the interaction with the skaters and the parents. It was similar to the first film; however had enough of it's own story to keep one's interest. I was wondering why Mrs. Dorsey is not listed in your credits. I felt that Stepfanie Kramer did an outstanding job as the mother and she even looks enough like Christy to convince the viewer they are related. I would hope that she could be added to your page along with her other performances on TV such as her role in Hunter and many other made for TV movies. The skating feats are amazing and the dancing is well choreographed. I would watch this film again and may consider purchasing it with the first sequel for my personal library.

But I wound up watching this movie on a Sunday afternoon and I enjoyed it. Admittedly, I ingested six Shiner Bock's before viewing and a couple while watching it. Still, I stand by my positive review. I'm not going to try to defend the film in any intellectual way. It's no Kurosawa or Truffaut piece of work. I can only defend it in the same way I would a Journey song: Yes, it's corny, but I am drunk so screw you. Is that too confrontational? I'm sorry, I'm drunk. Whoops, I just spilled my beer. Party foul. At this point I'd go into an irrational diatribe about the Mariner's inept hitting at too loud a volume. Where was I? Oh, yeah. I have to say, the criticism of Christy Carlson Romano acting seems out of place. She's given a character that has no internal logic by the writers and does the best that could be done with it. Her scene at the door where she confesses her love for her partner is particularly good, to my senses. Any way, I feel kind of unmasculine now so I'm going to go watch Commando for the seven hundredth time. 6 stars.

I cannot express in words how awful this movie is. Maybe if you gouge your eyes out, graciously overlook the ridiculously bad writing and acting, and try not to compare it with the infinitely better original you might walk away only moderately traumatized. Personally, I feel like I need a shower after seeing it. This sequel has all the silliness of the The Cutting Edge with none of the charm (not to mention none of the original cast). If I could give it a negative rating I would gladly do so; it's an unnecessary film that is so bad it almost goes so far as to ruin the original. I would rather see Kate and Doug get hit by a zamboni than believe that their union spawned this 'Jackie' creature. Horrible. Props to D.B. Sweeney and Moira Kelly for skating away from a clear disaster.

The featured comment that gives an "A+++ for good clean fun" to this film is written like a studio authored press blurb. I'm a little suspicious of the author as I just saw the DVD and I can say that this film competes with "Highlander II: The Quickening" as the worst sequel ever. I was a fan of Christy Romano until this movie. Mostly because she is hot, but also because she acts with so much energy. She had the acting breadth of a soap actress in this film. She projected three emotions; bemused, upset and completely blank, and used them over and over again, sometimes inappropriately. That would be fine for a half an hour TV show, but it was a snore here. It was like she took the Ren Stevens character from "Even Stevens", renamed her Jackie and threw her into this film. Ross Thomas did a good job of playing a "dude" character, but every non-skating scene between the two was dragged down by Ms. Romano's Jackie. As to the film itself, it played like an episode of "Baywatch" complete with montages of unrelated people and things used to transition to the next scene and pop songs in the background that drown out the actors dialog. It's "Baywatch" on ice. What a shame.

The original Cutting Edge got great word of mouth and I know both men and women that really enjoyed that movie. Fast forward to the remake, which this is. Simply a direct to video remake. Some minor changes: 1)the skaters are now coached by her parents (different actors) not the Russian trainer 2)he now has the girlfriend/fiancé instead of her 3)She is now recovering from an injury not him 4)he comes from extreme in-line skating now rather then hockey. Thats about the only differences. If you saw the original it plays out almost fight for fight, right down to the announcers of their Olympic performance commenting how they were technically perfect but skating without any passion, just like in the first. About a minute before that I jokingly made that same comment to my girlfriend not thinking that they would actually use it again in this version. The movie was entertaining, but I've never seen a "sequel" follow the original formula quite so closely. If you've seen the original pass on this, its OK, but you've seen it done better before.

Here's the thing ... when you put a female in a leading role, you have to give the audience something worth seeing. First of all, Romano can't act -- even on the Disney Channel's Even Steven's, she's horrible. At least on Disney Channel, most of the audience is younger, and they don't seem to notice her terrible acting. But, in a movie... especially against someone as cute, sexy, and sassy as Ross Thomas... you have to provide a good leading lady. Whoever did the casting for this movie should be fired. And the story line... not great. I could have lived with it, but it seemed to try too hard to put in similarities from the first movie. Maybe with a better female in the lead, it could've been pulled off... but I doubt it. If there is a Cutting Edge III, keep Thomas, ditch Romano and hire a new writer.

admitted i've only seen the trailer, but the other reviewer seems .... how can i put it.....ridiculous. I know that trailers can capture the "only" decent parts of a movie. Christy does not look like that person says and the movie trailer seems to set it up to be more of a extreme sports slanted movie. Besides if you hated the first Cutting Edge then why would you bother with this one? It could be that this movie isn't even going after someone like you anyway. My guess is that it sticks to what is set up in the trailer and there will be plenty of people go and see it. it may not be a blockbuster, but what movies are these days except "Narnia" and other "epics".

The original Cutting Edge wasn't classic cinema by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a fun little movie in its own way. This sequel has all of the bad qualities of the original film, and absolutely none of the good ones. The actors barely "act", the skating is ridiculous (and haven't they figured out yet that competitions aren't done under spotlights, pairs don't skate to vocal music, and the music doesn't start until the skaters are out in the middle of the ice?), and the dialog is straight out of a high-schooler's fanfic.

The overbearing use of soundtrack music is another problem with the film; it's used to tell you exactly what the characters are thinking, almost constantly. It rarely stops. And the thing is, they have to do this because the acting is so poor that the music is really the only way to get the emotions across. Music in movies can be great, but in this one it really seemed overdone and the lyrics far too literally connected to the plot. (It's not an opera, you know...)

Currently there are a bunch of 10 ratings for this film; they have got to be shill votes, because this is just not a good movie in any sense. Also, the earlier poster who claimed that the original Cutting Edge was actually from 1980... um, no. You are probably thinking of Ice Castles (1978) -- and if you are looking for an ice skating-themed romance, try that movie instead. It's dated, but far, far better than this low-budget travesty.

I didn't find this movie all that bad, especially for one that didn't appear in theaters. I saw it on TV and for a "made-for-TV" movie I liked it. The acting wasn't awesome or anything but Christy Carlson Ramano and Ross Thomas made the roles believable. At the end of the movie I couldn't help but smiling, I thought it was an adorable and perfect ending. I thought the overall plot line was pretty good as well. I really bought right into the whole movie, but maybe that's because I'm some teenage girl who likes sappy love stories and figure skating. Anyways, overall I liked the movie and would recommend it, more for young teen girls who like this kind of genre.

Okay, so it's not the best film I've ever seen, but if you like cheesy girly romcoms then it's not so bad. It made me laugh quite a few times and the figure skating is good. The film isn't as good as The Cutting Edge and it's a shame that they don't have any of the same actors, but it's alright as far as sequels go. It's a bit too much like the first one in that the heroine is a work-obsessed over-motivated meanie, and the guy starts off not being able to figure skate at all, but all the same I thought it was quite entertaining =P I'd give it a seven out of ten for all its cuteness. Plus points: Jackie's actress is good in a scene near the end when she cries a lot, the acting is actually reasonably convincing and she certainly cries enough real tears.

On its merits alone it would have been a fine Saturday afternoon flick. It was rather predictable in storyline but anyone starting that could figure that out 2 minutes in.

Where it falls shortest is in the rehashing of the toe-pick joke from the first movie, I was only hoping they would hint at it until she finally said it. The other part was the bad 80s music which is OK if you're watching a brat pack spin off flick from pre 1992, in 2006 it just feels like the director was still in torn jeans and a Def Leppard shirt.

If you're just looking for something easy going, or a movie to watch while recovering from major head surgery then you're set. I know it sounds mean, but I just wish these people would give a damn when they make a film to have it look better than a high school production of Grease.