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Common Sense Note

Parents need to know that 16-year-old Alexis is thrown into a world too fast and big for her. As a consequence, she makes some self-destructive decisions. She cheats on Nick with another skater, and drinks wine at a party. Alexis also feels gross and sexualized by her sponsors. A tragic accident disables Alexis. Teen characters make out and teen sex is implied, not shown.

Families can talk about success and celebrity. How does Lexie handle it? Why does she act out? What other celebs and celeb-athletes act the same way today? Is it easier to understand their behavior after watching this movie? How would you handle fame early in life? Do you think it's all it's cracked up to be?

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Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Heather Boerner

In every sports movie, there are giant hurdles to overcome. Whether it's poverty in Hoop Dreams or parental disapproval and later illness in Pride of the Yankees, sports movies teach us how to overcome barriers to success. That's why many people love them. ICE CASTLES has its own iconic barriers for its young athlete to overcome -- with a fabulously schmaltzy theme song and plot that will engage romantics young and old.

Alexis Winston (Lynn-Holly Johnson) is a flaxen haired 16-year-old who spends her time in her small town's ice rink practicing figure skating. She's got talent, and she's the best natural ice skater that her coach Beulah (Colleen Dewhurst) has ever seen, "and that includes those girls in the Olympics."

With the help of Beulah and her boyfriend Nick (the '70s-era dreamboat Robby Benson), Lexie convinces her overprotective father (Tom Skerritt) to let her enter a regional competition. Soon, she's being whisked away to train with a professional and compete in the 1980 Olympics, a camera crew is following her every move, and she's on the cover of Sports Illustrated. It's a dream come true and, soon she discovers, a trap all its own. When a fall on an ice rink leaves her nearly blind, she must decide whether figure skating is really what she wants to do, and if so, how will she achieve her goal?

This Academy Award-nominated film is an excellent illustration of what happens to a girl when she becomes successful too soon. She's isolated from everyone, but especially from her father, who isn't too friendly when she calls. Her boyfriend becomes depressed and jealous. The other girls gossip about her. Her sponsors treat her like a piece of meat. Meanwhile, her coach is pressuring her to be perfect. A girl could be excused for a drink of wine at a party -- or even a more destructive act. It's an intriguing, and more benign, cautionary tale than those being played out by the successful and self-destructive starlets of today.

For those raised on MTV, prepare yourself for some slow moments here. The pacing does a good job of conveying the sadness and sense of loss in the movie -- the theme song does, too -- but it's overdone; Director Donald Wrye and his actors seem to be from the slow-equals-dramatic school of acting.

Younger kids may enjoy films like Ice Princess. Older teens and adults may like The Cutting Edge, Gracie, and Stick It.

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Content
		CS	adults	kids
Sexual Content Some making out shown amongst teens and sex is implied. Nick is seen in his underwear.
Violence Some hockey-related violence, including smashing into walls and a near fistfight. Alexis throws things and breaks them. No one is injured. Beulah wrestles Alexis to the ground in the mitds of a fit. Marcus and Nick go hunting together. They carry guns but don't shoot them. Alexis has a tragic fall on the ice rink that leaves her mostly blind.
Language Considerable swearing, including "hell," "goddamn," "scared s--tless," dammit," "ass," "bitch," and "bastard."
Message
	Social Behavior Some gay-bashing language: "pansies," "lessie." Plus the old "limp wrists" reference.
	Commercialism
	Drug/Alcohol/Tobacco Beulah drinks liquor from the bottle and later drinks beer. Marcus drinks beer, too, and Lexie drinks wine at a party even though she's 16.

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