![[box cover]](../../reviewimgs/c/cutaway.jpg)
Cutaway
You don't know it yet, but you've seen this movie before. Take parts of Drop Zone and Point Break and add just a smidgen of Top Gun and you are left with Cutaway. Stephen Baldwin stars as U.S. Customs Agent Vic Cooper, a cop-on-the-edge who is going undercover to crack a gang of skydiving drug smugglers. Naturally he gets into his undercover role a bit too much and starts to get a little reckless (didn't see that coming, did you?). The big question is whether he will bust the ring before they win the big skydiving competition. Tom Berenger plays the leader of the skydivers, Dennis Rodman his lowlife sidekick and contact in the drug world, and Maxine Bahns a groundless love interest. Rodman has maybe three lines — just the way it should be — and you may find yourself going for the fast-forward whenever Bahns has anything to say. But bad acting and formulaic plot aside, there are some great skydiving shots in Cutaway — so many that the movie is really just a vehicle for them. If you like skydiving, it may be for you. If you don't like it (and really like it), you may be better off watching Point Break again. Or Drop Zone. Or Terminal Velocity. Directed by Guy Manos, who co-wrote with his brother Greg. Artisan's DVD release features a clean anamorphic transfer, with audio in Dolby 2.0 Surround. The menu offers a nicely altered skydiving shot that morphs into a shot of someone pulling their ripcord when you play the movie. Not much, but a nice touch.
—Steven Firstenburg
