Ice Princess (2005)

Director:

Tim Fywell

Writers (WGA):

Meg Cabot (story) and
Hadley Davis (story) ...

Release Date:

18 March 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Family | Sport

Tagline:

From Scholastic...To Fantastic!

Plot:

With the help of her coach, her parents, and the boy who drives the Zamboni machine, nothing can stop Casey (Trachtenberg) from realizing her dream to be a champion figure skater.

Plot Keywords:

Physics | Harvard | Championship | Coach | Zamboni

Cast

Michelle Trachtenberg	...	Casey Carlyle
Joan Cusack	...	Joan Carlyle
Amy Stewart	...	Ann
Steve Ross	...	Mr. Bast
Hayden Panettiere	...	Gen Harwood
Kim Cattrall	...	Tina Harwood
Trevor Blumas	...	Teddy Harwood
Kirsten Olson	...	Nikki
Jocelyn Lai	...	Tiffany
Connie Ray	...	Nikki's Mom
Paul Sun-Hyung Lee	...	Tiffany's Dad
Roy Bradshaw	...	Tiffany's Coach
Mark Hird	...	Nikki's Coach
Ben Gilbank	...	Brian
Thanh Nguyen	...	Hot Dog Kid

Also Known As:

Une princesse sur la glace (Canada: French title)

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Netherlands:AL | Argentina:Atp | Brazil:12 | Iceland:L | Malaysia:U | USA:G (certificate #41512) | South Korea:All | New Zealand:PG | Australia:PG | Singapore:G | USA:G | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Millbrook, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Walt Disney Pictures

Trivia:

Zoe Bloch skates to the instrumentals of Britney Spear's song, "Toxic"

Goofs:

Factual errors: Networks like ESPN do not broadcast junior regional ice-skating competitions live.

Quotes:

Gen Harwood: [about Casey's improvisation in her program] She deviated!
Tina Harwood: And I'll bust her for it. Tomorrow.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Black Christmas (2006)

Soundtrack:

Just a Dream

Cute and Serious

This 'chase your dream/against all odds' fantasy is a light diversion in a Hollywood culture steeped in blockbuster mode. Ice Princess attempts to treat the issue of female achievement with both charm and weightiness. One is almost tempted (I say almost tempted because it still falls under the very successful Disney Channel formula of a challenged teenage life and happy ending) to forgive the every ready show of single motherhood as fanatical stage moms driving their kids to the fulfillment of their dreams rather than encouraging the same to seek happiness and true fulfillment.

Both Kim Cattral and Joan Cusak play mothers who pressure their daughters into career they seemed all too disappointed about not having achieved. Their daughters, in effect, are stand-ins of their own unfulfilled dreams. Casey, the true focus of the movie is played by Michelle Trachtenberg, as a Harvard-bound physics nerd who aspires to challenge all the planning and hard work to become a world class figure skater. Conversely Gen, played by Hayden Panettiere, is the Cattral prodigy who is forced into the role of apprentice skating champ - chasing her mother's Olympic dreams - the dreams lost when she lost (disqualified, as the story goes) in Sarajevo - and just wants to be normal. True to the Hollywood/Disney formula there is the perfunctory supportive and accessible 'hunk' (who just happens to be Gen's bother) in Trevor Blumas. Directed by Tim Fywell and written by Hadley Davis, Ice Princess is a story pegged on the duality of very pushy mothers in Cusak and Cattral whose daughters are being pushed in the direction that runs counter to their dreams.

Despite the movie's predictability, the Ice Princess had moments of seriousness (almost lapses, actually) in the core subject matter of passionate loyalties amidst the cutthroat competitiveness of the figure-skating world. Yes, you will be treated to the attractive figure skating but Fywell is not tempted to push it over the top. Cusack and Cattrall bring a mature complexity to their difficult roles as mothers who are trying to control the raging hormones and resultant attitude. Problematic in some areas, the movie does bring to presence the very important issues of coming of age, parental interference, and long term career planning. Unrealistic at best, to think that after all that was invested, a Harvard bound student (not to mention the Olympic bound skater) would throw it all away on a one-in-a-million chance at 'true happiness' but we can always live vicariously in this imaginary space - which is why we will continue to be attracted to movies like Ice Princess.

Miguel Llora