Toe pick! Man, do I wear this one like a badge of honor. A year and a half ago, when I wrote my little guilty pleasure love letter to The Cutting Edge — the little love story that could — I had no idea I would be carrying that piece with me almost two years later. Over that time a number of things have ceased to surprise me. Things like the number of letters I get from people sharing their enthusiasm for that 1992 classic, the fact that it remains one of the best selling DVDs of all time, and that they keep making direct-to-cable sequels that follow the storyline but share none of the stars of the original. Nor did it in any way surprise me that when MGM sent a copy of the latest sequel to my editor Ted that I was the first person he thought of to write about it.

Back again for a third installment, The Cutting Edge 3: Chasing the Dream takes another crack at capturing the magic of the original. And falls short. This time however, they don’t fall nearly as short as the last attempt. Going back to the old formula, this is about a professional figure skater whose partner is injured, and for some inexplicable reason can’t find a partner. Enter the rough-around-the-edges sexy hockey player who just needs a little work so they can take the gold.

So how does this one differ from the plot of the original? Well, for starters the figure skater is a dude and the hockey player a girl. And as weird as that sounds, it’s only the beginning. This film is chock-full of non sequiturs and inexplicable logic flaws. But as silly as it gets, as poor as the production values are and unrepentantly melodramatic as the film occasionally becomes, it still turns out to be a gleefully silly and fun ride into schlocksville.

As bad as this movie could have been, it actually seems to be desperately trying not to be, and proves to be an entertaining Sunday-afternoon-on-the-couch-with-a-blanket kind of movie. No, there’s nothing new here. Hell, when the chips are down, our struggling duo has to dust off a dangerous and rarely performed move to try to win. Three guesses as to what that move is called. But what makes this film different from the rest is that the big story shake-up isn’t that these two can’t stand one another and slowly fall in love. Quite the contrary, this time they know they’re going to fall in love and try very hard not to for the sake of the skating. And that actually makes for a pretty interesting love story to watch.

Look, this ain’t Shakespeare. You should know the second you look at the title whether or not this movie is for you. For most of you it will prove to be another movie you can add to your there’s-just-no-reason-to-see-that file, and I’m here to tell you that you can do so safely. You’re not missing out on anything.

But for those of you so suffering from morbid curiosity — or an undeniable passion for the original — that you just have to (albeit secretly) rent this and watch it when nobody is looking… Well, you know what? It actually ain’t half bad. It’s cute enough, the leads are charismatic enough and the story is freshened up just enough to not feel at all stale. Sure, you’re gonna roll your eyes and ask stupid questions (about very stupid mistakes), but overall, it’s not going to be a waste of your time. I can’t rate this anything higher than a C due to its crippling budget, rampant silliness and inconsistencies. But coming up from F-level expectations, that ain’t so bad.

Grade: C

C. Robert Cargill – - – Email Me

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Austin-based Cargill, who not only loves but owns The Cutting Edge, writes on movies and DVD five times a week.