Synopsis
Mimicking the format of Spellbound, On Edge introduces us to a group offigure skating hopefuls. The principles are Veda, an ice queen driven by her imperious bitch-on-wheels mother; Wendy, overweight but very talented and desperate for attention; and J.C., thecynical, self-taught trailer trash. These three triumph in the local competition, and move on tothe regionals, shooting for the coveted Golden Horn.
The figure skating scene is so ripe for parody,…it is surprising no one had done a film of thiskind before now. By and large, it works. True, the documentary illusion slips a few times dueto a few too many edits and camera set-ups. Not all of the jokes work, and Jason Alexander’sZamboni Phil character doesn’t add much to the film. But the costume and routine caricatures arehilarious, incidental characters such as Veda’s hollering male admirers are a scream, and thesheer quantity of gags means that the laughs come with an acceptable frequency.
Audio
Given the pseudo-documentary format, there aren’t really any opportunities for surroundeffects. Futhermore, these would be out of place. Instead, there is a fair bit of backing music, andit is well served by the 2.0 track. 5.1 would really be wasted on this film. What counts is that thedialogue is clear and undistorted, and it is.
Video
The images is sharp, and comes in both fullscreen and 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreenaspects. There is some very noticeable grain, dirt and speckling, but whether this is the fault ofthe transfer or a deliberate grittiness is an open question. The edge enhancement is lessambiguous, and is visible, though not drastically so. The colours are good, making the costumeslook properly ridiculous.
Special Features
Not a lot here. The two deleted scenes are actually the full length versions of sequences thatare in the film. “Everybody’s Doin’ It” is interviews the cast. Though less slick than the usual,this is still a fairly ordinary puff piece. Finally, there is a hefty handful of trailers.
Closing Thoughts
Plenty of goofy stuff here, and the more familiar one is with the skating scene, I suspect, thefunnier the flick becomes.
Special Features List
- Deleted Scenes
- Cast Interviews
- Trailers
