Customer Reviews

On Edge

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

You don't have to be a fan of figure skating to love ON EDGE, but if you are, it'll kill you. Where else can you get Jason Alexander ("George" from SEINFELD) alongside Kristi Yamaguchi and Scott Hamilton? But they aren't even the best parts of this feel-good satire (a major accomplishment in itself) akin to BEST OF SHOW, because relative newcomers Langer and Winokur steal their scenes. You'll want them to star in the next big thing after they make you believe so intensely in their characters. I saw this at a film festival and haven't been able to get it out of my head, since. Did you like TALK RADIO or LARRY SANDERS? Then you'll love this behind-the-scenes look at skating. It's what those "Up Close and Personal" profiles during the Olympics DON'T show you, but you wish they did.

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.

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.

I was fortunate enough to see this film at a film festival two and a half years ago with my father. And the result was absolute hilarity. The film is definately in the spirit of Christopher Guest's "This is Spinal Tap" and "Waiting for Guffman". I had hoped and prayed that this great film would make it's way into the mainstream, but alas my prayers were never answered. But, lo and behold, I was checking on the internet and decided to try one last chance and lucky lucky me it's finally here! I urge you to rent this or buy this straight away. You will laugh your ass off.
The plot is simple but briliant. A dorky documentarian decides to go into the life of figure skating. We meet three talented but somewhat unorthodox skaters that tell the documentarian that all they want is to go all the way to the top. When the film isn't focused on the protagonists it switches between other skaters wanting the same thing, Note: watch for the scene with the twins in the dog outfits, it's hilarious, the same with the Oriental figure skater by the end of the film who isn't all she appears to be. In the midst of all this we also meet the resident philosopher who is also the janitor of the skating rink. All in all this film is a must see and laugh. Buy it now!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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.

This is a hilarious film following 3 very different women as they claw their up the ladder of competitive skating. I enjoyed it thoroughly, and played it again and again several times. I think Scott Hamilton in the role of an effete ex-judge was an absolute scream, and he really is quite a scene stealer. It's a great film for anybody, but if you follow figure skating, you'll enjoy cameos of former Olympians as judges. Poor Peter Carruthers is a stitch when he is assigned a rather unusual task. The fat jokes get to be a tad old towards the end, but overall I felt this film was cute and fun. It is light entertainment at its best.

I just lucked into seeing this movie. It was slap-your-knee funny and the mockumentary style was perfect. I can't believe I didn't hear about it before. It was delightful.

This "mock documentary" comedic slap at the often times pretentious world of "I'll act sweet for the public, but really I'll drive a knife in your back to get ahead" female U. S. Olympic figure skating is HYSTERICAL! Jason Alexander, Wendi Malick and John Glover may be only out performed by Marissa Winokar.

In the style of "Best in Show" and "Waiting for Guffman," this movie is a behind the scene look at ladies figure skating. If you can get past the stupid fat jokes and bad writing the only highlight is Scott Hamilton. Mr. Hamilton is actually very funny and the movie would have been much more interesting if it was just a monologue of Scott Hamilton's character.

Just like 'Best in Show' and 'Drop Dead Gorgeous', this is a mockumentory about the competitive world of figure skating. It wasn't a bad movie, but it didn't deliver the goods as well as it could have.

While Drop Dead Gorgeous had me laughing on the floor with tears in my eyes, On Edge only brought out a mild chuckle or two. There's the fat girl (she can do a triple! My God she can do a triple!), the girl being pushed too hard by her mother, the 'bad' girl, and a motley crew of skaters each wanting to win the coveted Golden Horn trophey at regionals.

Scott Hamilton was hilarious and possibly the high point of the movie. The dude from Seinfeld was OK as the Zamboni driver. All in all, I can give this movie an 'OK' but that's about it.