Search - On Edge on DVD

Too true, too funny

Sonora | St. Louis, MO United States | 03/28/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"You don't have to be a figs fan to enjoy this hilarious mockumentary about the world of figure skating. I saw this in its brief appearance in the theatres a couple of years ago, and was completely stoked to see it released on DVD. We watched it with a crowd of figure skating people immediately after Ladies Finals from Worlds in Germany-what a great juxtaposition! The loony in the tutu skating out on the ice during Michelle's warm up, followed by this lulu of a movie. Wendie Malick is perfect as the over involved skating mother-do I know a few like her! And the girl who plays bad girl skater JC Cain needs to be a star-she was wonderful! "It's hard to be Courtney Love when they want Celine Dion."There really needs to be a sequel with pairs and dance covered, as well as the whacky world of international competition."

MISSES THE MARK...

Lawyeraau | Balmoral Castle | 07/18/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This film presents an interesting idea gone bad: a mockumentary of the figure skating world. What could be better? After all, this is a sport beset by the individual caprices of its judges, win-at- all-cost personalities, and a certain effete snobbishness. Unfortunately, the screenplay writers, Karl Slovin and Laura Wolf, churn out a leaden script, and the director, Karl Slovin, compounds his badly written script with ham-handed direction. Even accomplished funny man, Jason Alexander, falls flat in this film.The film focuses on a number of characters who are competing in a local figure skating competition with an eye towards the Regional competition, with Zamboni Phil (Jason Alexander) functioning as a sort of Greek chorus or commentator. The three primary characters are Veda (Barret Swatek), J.C. Cain (A.J. Langer), and Wendy Wodinski (Marissa Jaret Winokur). The film focuses on their struggle to compete and what happens to them during competition. The fully focused Veda, with her stage mother, Mildred (Wendie Malick), in tow, is the revered local front runner, though she harbors a secret desire to be something other than a future Olympian. J.C. Cain is the hard living, drug taking, beer swilling Tanya Harding wanna-be from the wrong side of the tracks. Wendy Wodinsky is a great skater but quite fat and, consequently, the catalyst for any number of gratuitous fat jokes, most of them unfunny. They are all in awe of the Regional competition favorite, who is the initial Regional winner, but who, in a very funny scene, immediately runs into a problem in retaining the title. A.J. Langer is quite good in the role of the competition's bad girl. Newcomer Barret Swatek performs admirably in the role of Veda. Marissa Jaret Winokur does what she can with the hand she is dealt, which is to be the butt of those intolerable, heavy-handed, fat jokes. Wendy Malick, as Veda's stage mother, is, as always, quite funny. Jason Alexander, who is usually quite good in whatever role he undertakes, simply embarrasses himself in this film. Kathy Griffin, however, does a funny turn as an aging competitor, and John Glover is quite amusing as a former Russian figure skater turned trainer. In the film, the sly allusion to another film, "Mildred Pierce", which I initially thought to be intriguing, is merely a red herring. The only commonality is that in both films the mother, Mildred, has a pie making business, and the daughter, Veda, is a haughty miss, who ends up a great disappointment to her mother. Apart from that, there is no more common ground, making the whole allusion pointless and somewhat puzzling. For those who follow the world of figure skating, the film will have some interest, as the role of skating official, Ricky Medford, is played with relish by figure skating great, Scott Hamilton. Moreover, the film is punctuated with cameos by figure skating stars Kristi Yamaguchi, Peter Caruthers, Steve Cousins, Tai Babilonia, and Randy Gardner, as regional judges. Still, even the interjection of these luminaries cannot pull this film out of the morass created by the leaden clunker of a script. So, rent, rather than buy, this film. Moreover, if one is not a figure skating aficionado, deduct one star from my rating. Should one wish to see a funny mockumentary, one should see "Drop Dead Gorgeous", which does for the beauty pageant world what this film fails to do for the figure skating world."

Lots of fun, and says something about figure skating

M. J Leonard | Silver Lake, Los Angeles, CA United States | 12/29/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As my partner is a figure skating coach, and as I have actually skated at one of the rinks used in this movie, it is with great pleasure that we watched this clever, sardonic, and quite funny satire on the figure skating world. Told in a kind of mock documentary style, the film focuses on a regional competition-taking place at one of the skating rinks, probably in Southern California. The producers of On edge obviously know the world of figure skating because all of the characters and situations do exist! This is a fun, riotous story that focuses on the behind-the-scenes dramas and the competitiveness of three young girls as they trundle their way through amateur competition in search of the elusive Olympic gold.

On Edge includes all the stereotypes that people familiar with the sport will be able to identify with. There's the obsessive skating mother (Wendie Malick) who lives for the sport through her daughter Veda. Veda's heart isn't in the sport and she's having trouble landing the triple that she needs in order to be a serious medal contender. J.C. Cain (A.J. Langer) is a tramp-like, dope smoking, trailer park tough girl who is obviously modeled on Tonya Harding. J.C. dreams of winning gold and then performing in Florida Ice Shows; she's obviously talented, but as the bad girl of skating, she has a problem with discipline and staying focused.

The overweight Wendy Wodinski (a riotous and totally irreverent Marissa Jaret Winokur) shrugs off insults about her large size while easily reeling off triples. She wants to be the first fat person to win gold, but she's hampered by the perception that figure skaters should be thin. Linking these three competitors together is Zamboni Phil (Jason Alexander) who serves as the unofficial host and commentator. Phil has a soft spot for J.C. and tries to get her to clean her act up in time for the competition.

The supporting players are all funny with Kathy Griffin providing a walk on as a skater who doesn't skate but just poses on the ice. John Glover, sporting impressive biceps, is very funny as a Russian trainer whose business is in financial jeopardy. Real-life skaters Scott Hamilton (under heavy disguise), Peter Caruthers, Tai Babilonia, Kristi Yamaguchi, Stephen Cousins, and Randy Gardner add to the overall camaraderie as judges at the regional competition. Hamilton's character, while humorous, gives us a rather astute insight into the mentality of the officialdom of the sport. The second half of the movie shows the regional final in which nothing goes as planned, and there's lots of surprises in store: The parents turn out to be control freaks with over-the-top personality disorders and there's lots of cheeky and rude jokes about fat people.

The unfortunate part, however, is that the movie shows how the sport has been simplified, becoming almost like tacky pop culture. There's one scene where two twins skate to doggy music in identical doggy costumes and identical routines doing silly dance routines and not actually skating. This is not too far from the norm in this sport at the grass roots level! The movie also does a good job of showing that skating has now become a money machine at all costs, and that at the local level, much of the art and grace of figure skating is, unfortunately, a thing of the past. When all is said and done though, On Ice is a really cute, irreverent, and totally tongue-in cheek look at the world of figure skating. Mike Leonard December 04.
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