If you liked The Cutting Edge but couldn't tolerate the sequel, you might like this third try for the gold.
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"The Cutting Edge" that started it all in 1992 grossed just over $25 million--a modest amount, to be sure. But that film enjoyed an almost cult following when it was released on home video. Almost every kid who took skating lessons can number it among her cherished childhood memories, which is why it spawned two belated sequels. The original film teamed a hockey player with a figure skater in an opposites-attract love/skate relationship, while in "The Cutting Edge: Going for the Gold" (2006) it was an inline skater who was brought onboard to compete for an Olympic pairs medal. But that follow-up didn't include a single cast member from the first film, which of course disappointed fans. And what were they thinking when they subtitled it "Going for the Gold"? I mean, that's what happens in every installment! It's like a Forrest Gump moment: Going for the gold. A-gain.
"The Cutting Edge: Chasing the Dream" returns to the original concept but does a gender flip. This time it's the woman who's the hockey player (an amateur, no less) and the man who's a world-renowned figure skater searching for a new partner. If you're looking for a miracle on ice, what's more miraculous than hoping to win with a feisty Latina (Francia Raisa, "Bring it On: All or Nothing") who's never figure-skated in her life, though she's in her twenties? We're supposed to believe that not only is it possible for her to attain his level of skating perfection in a matter of weeks, but that the two of them are also capable of learning a dangerous special move that was only done once before--in an Olympic gold medal competition, naturally.
I don't know who's writing the cover notes at Fox/MGM these days, but that person obviously didn't watch much of the film. The cover makes it sound as if Zack Conroy (Matt Lanter, "Heroes") is the "dangerous competitor, ignoring all risks in pursuit of perfection." In fact, Zack is the timid one, not daring enough to "leave it all on the ice." It's his hesitancy which leads to an accident that puts his partner and lover (Sarah Gadon) on crutches. But maybe it was a Freudian trip. They were drifting apart anyway.
There's a telling moment on one of two bonus features when Raisa says, "I was so excited to do [the last scene] because I love Spanish soap operas." Well, good, because it isn't just the last scene that plays like one. The weepy-eyed music, the long monologues, the clichéd plot that trusts you'll believe anything . . . it all smacks of melodrama.
Christy Carlson Romano ("Kim Possible") is the only carryover from the first two films, reprising her role as coach Jackie Dorsey. Luis Oliva plays Alex's protective brother Bobby, while Stefano Colacitti is the bad guy-the manager/coach who drops Zack like a shot after Celeste gets hurt, and immediately ends up coaching another skating pair. So, with competition just weeks away, are skaters really as fickle as the designers we see on "Project Runway," changing horse-trainers in mid-stream? That's another hard one to swallow.
I don't have to go any further. You already know how this film ends, and in this respect it's very much like a romance novel. The formula and the predictability isn't a liability at all when the film is the equivalent of a comfort food or a guilty pleasure. Just don't expect reality to intrude too much on this romantic, melodramatic tale.
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