Jump to content

Ice Castles

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the 1978 film. For the 2010 film, seeIce Castles (2010 film).For other uses, seeIce castle.
Ice Castles
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDonald Wrye
Screenplay by
  • Donald Wrye
  • Gary L. Baim
Story byGary L. Baim
Produced byJohn Kemeny
Starring
CinematographyBill Butler
Edited by
Music byMarvin Hamlisch
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release date
  • December 31, 1978(1978-12-31)
Running time
110 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$9.5 million[1]

Ice Castlesis a 1978 Americanromantic drama filmdirected byDonald Wryeand starringLynn-Holly JohnsonandRobby Benson.It is the story of Lexie Winston, a youngfigure skater,and her rise and fall from super stardom. Tragedy strikes when, following a freak accident, Lexie loses hersight,leaving her to hide away in the privacy of her own despair. She eventually perseveres and begins competing in figure skating again.

The work was filmed on location inColoradoandMinnesota.Its theme song "Through the Eyes of Love",performed byMelissa Manchester,was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Original Songat the52nd Academy Awards.[2]

Aremake,also directed by Wrye, was released direct to video in 2010.

Plot summary

[edit]

Alexis "Lexie" Winston is a sixteen-year-old girl fromWaverly,Iowa,who dreams of becoming a champion figure skater. Her boyfriend, Nick Peterson, dreams of being a hockey player.

Coached by a family friend and former skater, Lexie enters a regional championship over her father's protests. There she is discovered by an elite coach, who sees her potential despite her lack of training and her relatively advanced age. Over her father's objections, Lexie moves from Waverly toColorado Springsto train at the legendaryBroadmoor World Arena.She becomes unpopular among her fellow trainees because of the attention lavished on her natural talent and the publicity she receives.

Lexie qualifies for the senior championship level, her life changing drastically in the process. She becomes a star, alienates her boyfriend, and begins dating a grown man, television broadcaster Brian. Becoming uncomfortable with the direction her life is taking, she leaves a sponsorship party and heads to a nearby outdoor skating rink. Her coach and the partygoers watch through the windows as she skates. She attempts a difficult triple jump but lands off the ice onto a set of tables and chairs chained together near the edge of the rink. Lexie suffers a serioushead injury,a blood clot in her brain robbing her of her eyesight and leaving her able to see only light and blurry shapes. The doctor is uncertain if her injury will be permanent.

Lexie returns home and becomes a recluse. Nick, who still resents her affair with Brian, demands that she get out of the house and back onto the ice. Despite their mutual resentment and Lexie's depression, they work through their estrangement and rediscover their love for each other. With help from Nick, her father Marcus, and original coach Beulah, Lexie begins to believe she can still fulfill her dreams. Though virtually blind, she can still see the boards at the edge of the rink, and so learns how to compensate for her disability.

She enrolls in the sectional championship and presents a flawless program that provokes astanding ovationfrom the audience. Her disability, however, is revealed when she trips over roses thrown onto the ice by adoring fans. Nick rushes to her side and says, "We forgot about the flowers," as the crowd realizes that Lexie has not recovered from her injuries but rather risen above them.

Cast and characters

[edit]
  • Lynn-Holly Johnsonas Alexis "Lexie" Winston
  • Robby Bensonas Nick Peterson
  • Colleen Dewhurstas Beulah Smith
  • Tom Skerrittas Marcus Winston
  • Jennifer Warrenas Deborah Mackland
  • David Huffmanas Brian Dockett
  • Sydney Blake as Sandy
  • Craig T. McMullen as Doctor
  • Kelsey Ufford as Ceciel Monchet
  • Leonard Lilyholmas Hockey Coach
  • Brian Foley as Choreographer
  • John-Claude Bleuze as French Coach
  • Theresa Willmus as Annette Brashlout
  • Diana Holden as X-ray technician
  • Michelle McLean as Skater
  • Carol Williams as Television producer
  • Kevin Heinen as Man in green jacket throwing rose

Critical response

[edit]

The film holds a 44% "Rotten" rating on aggregate review siteRotten Tomatoes,based on 9 reviews, with an average score of 5.3/10.[3]

A movie reviewer forVarietywrote, "Ice Castlescombines a touching love story with the excitement and intense pressure of Olympic competition skating "and praised the performances of Dewhurst and Skerrit.[4]

Roger Ebertdisliked the sentimentality of the movie, writing:

Call me Scrooge; stories like this make me cringe. I don't deny the bravery of the characters being portrayed – I just object to the emotional bankruptcy of the people making the movies... One of the melancholy aspects ofIce Castlesis the quality of talent that's been brought to such an unhappy enterprise. Lynn-Holly Johnson, who plays the figure skater, is an appealing young woman who actually happens to be a good skater who can act. Robby Benson, as her boy friend, is always an engaging performer... The supporting cast includes the irreplaceable Colleen Dewhurst... There's also a brief role (as a hard-boiled coach) for the fascinating actress Jennifer Warren, who was electrifying inNight Movesand never seems to get the roles she deserves. They all act well together, and the direction by Donald Wrye tries to get beneath surfaces, to show plausible people in actual situations, to give some notion of the pressures on young athletes. The girl's small town is colorfully painted, the family's home life is drawn in a nice offbeat way, and the details of competitive ice-skating are worked in casually.[5]

Reviewer Austin Kennedy also gave a lukewarm review, though praised the acting as "the better part of this movie. Real life skater Lynn-Holly Johnson is charming and does a fine job as the innocent starlet."[6]

Common Sense Mediacalled the film a "schmaltzy classic skating movie for romantics."[7]

Janet Maslin,inThe New York Times,complained that she found the movie "amazingly hard to follow", "confusing", and "baffling"; she writes, "Wrye's bungling renders the story sob-proof."[8]

Accolades

[edit]
Award Category Recipients Result
Academy Awards[9] Best Original Song "Through the Eyes of Love (Theme fromIce Castles)"
Music byMarvin Hamlisch;
Lyrics byCarole Bayer Sager 		Nominated
American Movie Awards Best Supporting Actress Colleen Dewhurst Nominated
Golden Globe Awards[10] Best Original Song – Motion Picture "Through the Eyes of Love (Theme fromIce Castles) "
Music by Marvin Hamlisch;
Lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager 		Nominated
New Star of the Year in a Motion Picture – Female Lynn-Holly Johnson Nominated
Golden Reel Awards Best Sound Editing – Dialogue Won
Grammy Awards[11] Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special Ice Castles– Marvin Hamlisch, Carole Bayer Sager,Alan ParsonsandEric Woolfson Nominated
Stinkers Bad Movie Awards Worst Supporting Actress Colleen Dewhurst Nominated

Remake

[edit]

Director Donald Wrye remadeIce Castlesin 2009.[12]Thenamesake film,starring Taylor Firth andRob Mayes,was released as a direct-to-DVD title on February 9, 2010, shortly before the2010 Winter Olympics.[13]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^Nowell, Richard (2011).Blood Money: A History of the First Teen Slasher Film Cycle.Continuum. p. 256.
  2. ^Arnold, Christine (November 15, 1987). "This Year's Melissa Not the Same Old Song and Dance".The Miami Herald.p. 1K.
  3. ^"Ice Castles".Rotten Tomatoes.RetrievedOctober 7,2013.
  4. ^"Review:Ice Castles".Variety.December 31, 1977.RetrievedOctober 7,2013.
  5. ^Ebert, Roger(January 29, 1979)."Ice Castles".rogerebert.RetrievedOctober 7,2013.
  6. ^Kennedy, Austin (May 7, 2012)."The 31 Day Movie Challenge - Day 9 - ICE CASTLES (1978)".Sin Magazine / The 1 and Only Film Geek.RetrievedOctober 7,2013.
  7. ^Boerner, Heather (August 28, 2007)."Ice Castles".Common Sense Media.RetrievedOctober 7,2013.
  8. ^Maslin, Janet(February 23, 1979)."Screen: 'Ice Castles,' Skater's Story:Slush".The New York Times.RetrievedOctober 7,2013.
  9. ^"The 52nd Academy Awards (1980) Nominees and Winners".oscars.org.Archivedfrom the original on November 10, 2014.RetrievedOctober 7,2011.
  10. ^"Ice Castles – Golden Globes".HFPA.RetrievedAugust 21,2021.
  11. ^"1979 Grammy Award Winners".Grammy.RetrievedJanuary 5,2024.
  12. ^"Taylor Firth to star inIce Castles".The Hollywood Reporter.April 6, 2009. Archived fromthe originalon April 9, 2009.
  13. ^Bosch, Torie (February 23, 2010)."How To Make a Better Figure-Skating Movie".Slate.RetrievedNovember 22,2023.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ice_Castles&oldid=1227460317"