‘The Cutting Edge’
“The Cutting Edge” is not thought of as a guy movie, probably — and this is just a guess — because the plot centers around figure skating. I get ridiculed when I talk about it, much less quote from it (Try saying “Toepick!” when you see someone fall down — nobody will get the reference). It’s not a film that rests next to “The Godfather,” “Hoosiers” and “Rocky IV” in the Guys Film Canon. But here’s the thing ... it’s really not about skating at all. I don’t care what the promotional posters say, or what the actual athletic scenes focus on. This is the tough but inspirational — indeed, manly! — story of how an injured hockey player fights the odds and makes a success of himself in sports. OK, so that sport involves costumes with sequins, and moves that look suspiciously like dancing. And OK, fine, there’s the romance between the main characters that moves it dangerously close to chick-flick territory. Who cares? It’s a film about a hockey player — that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. —Craig Berman
‘Drop Dead Fred’
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Lions Gate Home Entertainment
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In 1991, Rik Mayall was known in the U.S. as the comical Anarchist in "The Young Ones", a Britcom shown on MTV. And Phoebe Cates was fresh out of her second run-in with little creatures in "Gremlins 2." So, when they were brought together in
"Drop Dead Fred," the tale of a woman forcibly reunited with her childhood imaginary friend after twenty years, why wasn't it accepted as a wacky fantasy? Probably because the movie let the label of "imaginary friend" turn it into a psychological drama about the aftereffects of childhood trauma. But if you disregard the psychological red herring and accept Fred as not a chemical imbalance or defense mechanism, but as a guardian angel who breaks windows, flicks boogers and looks up dresses, the movie becomes a lot more fun. Then you can truly enjoy the construction of the world's greatest mud pie, the imaginary friend reunion in the psychiatrist's waiting room, Carrie Fisher as Cates' grown-up friend trying to strangle the invisible Fred, Ron Eldard as the guy you hope she'll end up with in the end buying into the craziness in a fancy restaurant and, of course, the sinking of the houseboat. And no psychiatric theory will ever explain how Fred becomes another little girl's imaginary friend at the end of the movie. Just remember: Drop Dead Fred and Peter Pan both wear green — only Fred's is more puke-green. —
Wendell Wittler
‘Hercules’
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Disney
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How is it that I know every word to every song on the soundtrack of Disney’s least-loved animated feature,
"Hercules"? Logically, this flick should be the worst of the worst: a big-budget family feature that floundered at the box office and has affirmatively not inspired a Broadway musical (although its Greek chorus of gospel-singing muses is awesome.) Megara, Hercules’ love interest, will never make the pantheon of revered Disney princesses, not with her sordid past and jaded attitude. Danny DeVito, Rip Torn, Bobcat Goldthwait, and Paul Shaffer all turn in wry, playful voice performances — but the jewel is James Woods as silver-tongued Hades, his hair a shock of blue flame that blazes ever-higher when he becomes enraged. Aside from such sight gags, much of the humor is slightly too sophisticated for little ones: a boy trapped in a rockslide shrieks “Somebody call IX I I!” Ultimately, it’s a Disney film that doesn’t pander to a Disney audience. It pokes fun at the excessive merchandising that is Walt's stock-in-trade. It depicts damned souls swimming in a river of death. It’s a brightly colored cartoon for sarcastic misanthropes, and that’s why I dig it. —
Kim Rollins ![]()
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