Ice skating is having a major moment. Between the wild popularity of HBO Max’s hockey romance Heated Rivalry and the recent drama and excitement of figure skating at the Milano Cortina Olympics — particularly Alysa Liu’s comeback story and gold medal win — more people than ever are interested in the fast-paced world of ice-related sports, or at least movies and television shows about them. But while the Olympics are over and Heated Rivalry fans have to wait until 2027 for Season 2, a movie that might just satisfy fans of both is about to be free to stream at the perfect time.
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Written by Andor’s Tony Gilroy, 1992’s The Cutting Edge is not only the perfect movie to stream if you love figure skating and already miss Heated Rivalry, it’s also a cult classic. The film stars Moira Kelly as spoiled and difficult Olympic figure skater Kate Moseley who, after being abandoned by her partner, ends up skating with an Olympic hockey player Doug Dorsey (D.B. Sweeney) who can no longer pursue his dream of playing in the NHL due to a head injury. The sports romance received only lukewarm reception from critics, but fans loved it — and still do. It arrives on Tubi March 1st.
The Cutting Edge Has a Surprising Parallel to One U.S. Olympic Figure Skater’s Story (Just Not How You’d Expect)
The Cutting Edge is a fun movie. It’s definitely a little cheesy and there does require a little bit of suspension of disbelief when it comes to the mechanics of the skating in the film and why Doug is going from hockey to figure skating — not only would one think that Doug’s injury would be an issue for figure skating, too, but the techniques hockey skaters and figure skaters use are very different. In particular, that difference is highlighted in the fan favorite, much memed “toe pick” scene in the movie. Despite this, the characters themselves are likeable and both Kelly and Sweeney do a great job making you forget about some of the less realistic elements of the film.
But what might be the most interesting thing about The Cutting Edge now 34 years after its initial release is the surprise parallel between Kelly and Olympic gold medalist Alysa Liu in terms of their careers and the choices they made. Liu’s gold medal win has been the pinnacle of an inspiring comeback story, as Liu “retired” from figure skating in 2022 at the age of 16, shortly after the Beijing Winter Olympics. At the time, she cited a variety of reasons for her choice, including the desire to have a normal teenage life. She surprised everyone when she returned in 2024, this time on her terms.
As it turns out, Kelly made a similar decision to step back from her own career as an actor. In the years after The Cutting Edge, Kelly went on to have a starring role in One Tree Hill as cafe owner and single mom Karen Roe and, after that series ended, Kelly decided to step back from acting so that she could focus on her family. In recent years, she’s starting to return to acting more prominently, with her most recent project being the Hallmark movie, Love of the Irish. It’s a neat little parallel, one that might just make giving this ‘90s classic a watch on Tubi even more interesting.
The Cutting Edge skates onto Tubi March 1st.
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