The Cutting Edge: Fire & Ice (2010)

I'll gladly give the full rack of stars for this perfect little movie with its arena of drama, humor, romance and skating. The two main characters possessed a convincing chemistry that made me hope for a Cutting Edge 5 just so I could see them together again, for better or worse. Red-hot chemistry aside, Francia Raisa and Brenden Fehr both turned out excellent performances. Their acting seemed as though they weren't acting --- which is to say, they played their parts convincingly and beautifully in every way.Both of these actors, no doubt, have promising futures in the industry; their talents qualify them for roles above and beyond the ordinary. They should - and CAN - aim high.

Francia Raisa reprises her role as Alexandra "Alex" Delgado in film franchise.The Cutting Edge: Fire & Ice is a TV movie that follows the The Cutting Edge 3: Chasing the Dream. It also stars Brendan Fehr.It was produced for the ABC Family cable channel.Alex whose figure skating career came to an abrupt halt after her partner became injured. As their love affair cooled, a heart-broken Alex stopped competing and turned to teaching. Enter James McKinsey, the smoldering bad boy of speed skating, who has had fiery Alex in his sights as a skating partner ever since he was banned from speed skating. There aren't many girls who say no to James and Alex may well be the first. However, James pushes her buttons, challenging her like no one else and her fighting spirit returns. She agrees to be his partner and they begin a grueling practice regimen fueled by their own tempestuous relationship which heats up as they get closer to competition. But will their passion destroy Alex's chance to bring home the gold again? Your guess is as good as mine.I think that is about time to end doing poor sequels of The Cutting Edge.The three films that were produced - the Cutting Edge 2,Cutting Edge 3 and this film - have somewhat hurt the legacy of classic first film.I think that repeating the same thematic plots of the Tony Gilroy's script has become tiresome and uninteresting for viewers.They offer practically nothing different.But at least,Brendan Fehr and Francia Raisa have great chemistry and have tried their best with their characters.The only good thing about it had some moments of entertainment like the poker scene.Nothing more.But nevertheless,it is time to end doing further sequels that does not even hold a candle to the D.B. Sweeney-Moira Kelly starrer.

Perhaps the worst-kept secret in Hollywood at this point is the incredible talent that is Los Angeles native Francia Raisa, currently of The Secret Life Of The American Teenager. She reminds me of an unbeaten racehorse who keeps winning, even as it moves up in class. The more they give her to work with, and the brighter they shine the light upon her, the better she performs. She is developing so fast as an actress that a future Oscar is likely, once she gets a script worthy of that level of performance. Sadly, this film, like its predecessor (CE3), doesn't rise to that level, but she manages to make a good film out of mediocre film with yet another flawless performance. Raisa is back as Alex Delgado, with a new "pinwheel" cast designed to highlight her talents, much as in CE2, with Christy Romano. Her supporting cast is much stronger, with numerous actors likely to become household names as well, most notably Brendan Fehr, who has been bouncing around television, most notably the CSI franchise, for a while. His talents allowed Raisa to shine much more than Matt Lanter in CE3. The plot is standard by now: love-hate relationship between longshot pairs figure skaters complicates existing obstacles to glory. It worked so well in 1992 that ABC Family has taken to making three sequels, each with a slightly different angle. As I said in my review of the first film, surprise is not the goal here, but romance, although this film is a bit lacking in that department. By now, fans of this franchise have embraced its predictability, instead focusing on the cast, the acting, the plagiarism from the original(s), and how the story will once again be retold. This film could have done well even as a standalone, big-budget, feature film. Raisa is going to be out of challenges soon enough, and should wait patiently for the "role of a lifetime," the one that will let her show the less perceptive folks in the world know she's one of the best (and hottest) actresses of this generation. She is everything Jennifer Lopez wishes she were, but never became, and then some.

Brendan Fehr did a great job of playing the "bad boy", who secretly has a good heart and real character. He was charismatic and interesting in every scene. I thought that the two leads skated well together and that added to their chemistry.His scene with small girls in the skating class was adorable. Brendan milked a laugh out of very weak scene with the banana and the blender. He was sexy and intense in the one love scene.Lastly, he looked great in the sport clothes for practice. Kudos to the wardrobe department. I wish that could have come up with something better for his competition outfits.Yes, the producers are telling the same story as the first 3 movies, so the audience knows exactly what to expect by the final skate/scene.