Is Big Hollywood Conspiring To Keep ‘The Cutting Edge’ “Rotten” On Rotten Tomatoes?

You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” The ad wizards who wrote that copy were certainly onto something when they created this memorable tagline, but Decider’s“Take Two” series was specifically formulated in a laboratory by the world’s foremost pop culture scientists to provide a second chance for movies that made a less than stellar first impression upon their original release.

What is the greatest day in cinematic history? Wrong. The answer is March 27, 1992. On that historic spring afternoon, both White Men Can’t Jump and The Cutting Edge strutted into theaters, forever changing the lives of each and every person on planet Earth. White Men Can’t Jump is rightfully revered, currently boasting a 75% Certified Fresh rating on the wild, wild West of film analysis known as Rotten Tomatoes. The Cutting Edge, on the other hand, currently holds a 57% Tomatometer score, categorizing the movie as “rotten.”

This downright Dangerfield-ian level of disrespect has been a source of contention for me since 2019.

Starring Moira Kelly, D.B. Sweeney, and enough will they/won’t they chemistry to power Atlantic City over a three-day holiday weekend, The Cutting Edge follows a talented yet temperamental figure skater (Kelly) who reluctantly teams with a rakish former hockey player (Sweeney) in hopes of capturing Olympic gold. This cinematic charmer is a textbook example of an opposites attract rom-com done right. The movie doesn’t take itself too seriously, has no shortage of humor and silliness, produced one of the all-time best declarations of love, includes a highly-quotable moment that pierced the zeitgeist (toe pick!), and features scorching hot chemistry between Kelly and Sweeney.

Now, is it possible I appreciate whimsy a little more than most? Sure. I learned the “Cup Song” after watching Pitch Perfect, so, yeah, you can say my appreciation for the fanciful arts is robust, to say the least. But by any metric, The Cutting Edge is a fun, entertaining flick. So back in 2019, I did what any rational human would do: I spent a month trying to flip the film’s Rotten Tomatoes score from “rotten” to “fresh.” I wasn’t successful, but I did help increase the film’s 48% score to its current 57% mark. In other words… it was a month well spent.

I was prepared to let this egregious pop culture crime go. What would Tom ever do if he actually caught Jerry, ya know? I was going to write about how The Cutting Edge deserves a spot in the sports rom-com Hall of Fame for Decider’s “Take Two” week. The film’s currently streaming on Paramount+ with Showtime, so I logged into Paramount+, searched for The Cutting Edge, went to the movie’s homepage, and saw this:

“It’s not a conspiracy theory if it’s true,” Mel Gibson’s character most likely said at some point during the 1997 mystery thriller Conspiracy Theory. Paramount+’s homepage for The Cutting Edge lists the title of this iconic motion picture as “Color of Night” instead of, you know, The Cutting Edge.

Per IMDb, Color of Night is a 1994 Bruce Willis-led erotic thriller about a color-blind psychoanalyst who’s stalked by an unknown killer after taking over his murdered friend’s therapy group. I haven’t seen the movie, but it appears to have little, possibly even nothing, to do with reluctantly falling in love while trying to win an Olympic gold medal in the competitive world of doubles figure skating.

How could a company involved with all seven seasons of Billions do something like this?

If you click “watch now,” The Cutting Edge plays, but it’s pretty clear to me what’s going on here: Big Hollywood doesn’t want you to fall in love with the undeniable cinematic charisma of The Cutting Edge. They want, nay, need The Cutting Edge to remain “rotten” on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s the only logical conclusion! Think about it: If The Cutting Edge is truly “rotten” why did it spawn four additional films, two of which star Even Stevens standout Christy Carlson Romano and another one that features both Michael from the original Roswell and a pre-Arrow, pre “Wait, strikes are actually good, you guys!” Stephen Amell?

The fourth film of the franchise, 2004’s The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing, courageously decided to hit pause on the whole figure skating/hockey/love part of the franchise to instead focus on the art of film editing. A very bold, innovative choice, in my opinion.

As always, when the world zigs, The Cutting Edge zags. Bravo, Cutting Edge. Bravo.

After learning about Hollywood’s brazen attempt to extinguish The Cutting Edge’s resilient flame, I, of course, reached out to a bevy of my TV writing friends with a simple message, “The strike’s back on, fam!” They didn’t quite share my enthusiasm for the cause, which like, okay. I didn’t know solidarity was a one-way street, but whatever. Since shutting down Hollywood (again) was apparently off the table, I decided to try to turn a negative into a positive by directly reaching out to Paramount+.

When Tinseltown closes a door, she opens a window. That’s right… SHE.

The Cutting Edge has clearly morphed into Hollywood’s bad boy; the type of movie that sits on a chair A.C. Slater-style. Don’t let Big Hollywood silence this sparkling beacon of rom-com excellence. Make your voice heard! If you enjoy the film, write a positive review! If you don’t like the film — and are therefore not a fan of joy, love, laughter, and/or sporting events that take place when it’s chilly — take the day off you silly, silly curmudgeon.

Together, we can make Color of Night fresh. Whoops! I mean, The Cutting Edge. Thank you for your time.