Ice Castles (PG, 1978)

Sixteen year old Alexis Winston (Lynn-Holly Johnson) has talent -- 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 (Robby Benson), Lexie convinces her overprotective father (Tom Skerritt) to let her enter a regional competition. Soon, she's off training with a professional and competing in the 1980 Olympics, a camera crew follows 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?

With a plot that will engage romantics young and old, 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, and her relationships suffer. The other girls gossip about her, sponsors treat her like a piece of meat, and her coach pressures 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.

Studio: Sony Pictures
Director: Donald Wrye
Cast: Colleen Dewhurst, Lynn-Holly Johnson, Robby Benson, Tom Skerritt
Genre: Drama
Run time: 108 minutes
Theatrical release: December 31, 1978
DVD release: May 1, 2001
MPAA Rating: PG