Beware - thin 'Ice'! - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

musicradio77 · 03-26-2005, 01:59 PM

From the Daily News:

Beware - thin 'Ice'!

By ELIZABETH WEITZMAN
DAILY NEWS WRITER

* 1/2

ICE PRINCESS. With Michelle Trachtenberg, Kim Cattrall. Director Tim Fywell. (1:32) Rated G.

Harvard President Lawrence Summers recently touched off a firestorm by speculating on why more girls don't display an interest in science. He might consider Tim Fywell's "Ice Princess" Exhibit A.

Ironically, Harvard figures prominently in this retrograde story of a high school science whiz who rejects the Ivy League when people tell her she looks "hot" in a skating costume.

In the grand Hollywood tradition of beautiful girls playing improbably gorgeous geeks, Michelle Trachtenberg is Casey Carlyle, college-bound bookworm. When she decides to study the physics of ice skating for a scholarship project, she's hit with the sort of epiphany brilliant minds wait for all their lives:

Why waste your time with academics when you can put on a spangly outfit and win shiny medals?

If that sounds a bit cynical - and unfairly dismissive - it's only a reflection of the movie's mean-spirited approach. Though Fywell acknowledges the dedication and strength of professional athletes, he seems a lot more excited about the sexy clothes and catty attitudes.

The New England skating circuit Casey enters is filled with girls who starve themselves and torment each other, lessons learned from deranged parents desperate to see their children succeed. Leading the charge is glamorous Tina (Kim Cattrall), a former medalist training her daughter, Gen (Hayden Panettiere).

Before long, popular Gen is teaching insecure Casey how to apply lip gloss and "shake it" at parties. Unfortunately, we learn, boys don't like girls who are smarter than them, and Casey quickly drops her intellectual pursuits to follow her new dream.

This does not please Casey's mother, Joan (Joan Cusack), a drab teacher regularly scoffed at for her liberal leanings. Eventually, of course, Joan sees the error of her ways and agrees that Casey's place is at the rink, rather than in a Harvard lab.

All this might be mildly palatable if the cast were able to rise above the material. But Trachtenberg is as mannered and self-conscious here as she was on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." The professional skaters who play her rivals are entertaining on the ice, but don't exactly steam up the sidelines as actresses.

Cusack is excellent as Joan, the only woman in the film who values a girl's brains over her body, so it's a shame Fywell treats her with amused scorn.

Cattrall is actually great fun as the morally depleted Tina, but such an unpleasant role needs to be balanced by some sensibility - of which, in this cold climate, there is simply none to be found.

03-26-2005, 01:59 PM	#1
musicradio77 Disney Expert Forum Veteran Join Date: Jul 14, 2003 Location: Brooklyn, NY USA Posts: 6,475	Beware - thin 'Ice'! From the Daily News: Beware - thin 'Ice'! By ELIZABETH WEITZMAN DAILY NEWS WRITER * 1/2 ICE PRINCESS. With Michelle Trachtenberg, Kim Cattrall. Director Tim Fywell. (1:32) Rated G. Harvard President Lawrence Summers recently touched off a firestorm by speculating on why more girls don't display an interest in science. He might consider Tim Fywell's "Ice Princess" Exhibit A. Ironically, Harvard figures prominently in this retrograde story of a high school science whiz who rejects the Ivy League when people tell her she looks "hot" in a skating costume. In the grand Hollywood tradition of beautiful girls playing improbably gorgeous geeks, Michelle Trachtenberg is Casey Carlyle, college-bound bookworm. When she decides to study the physics of ice skating for a scholarship project, she's hit with the sort of epiphany brilliant minds wait for all their lives: Why waste your time with academics when you can put on a spangly outfit and win shiny medals? If that sounds a bit cynical - and unfairly dismissive - it's only a reflection of the movie's mean-spirited approach. Though Fywell acknowledges the dedication and strength of professional athletes, he seems a lot more excited about the sexy clothes and catty attitudes. The New England skating circuit Casey enters is filled with girls who starve themselves and torment each other, lessons learned from deranged parents desperate to see their children succeed. Leading the charge is glamorous Tina (Kim Cattrall), a former medalist training her daughter, Gen (Hayden Panettiere). Before long, popular Gen is teaching insecure Casey how to apply lip gloss and "shake it" at parties. Unfortunately, we learn, boys don't like girls who are smarter than them, and Casey quickly drops her intellectual pursuits to follow her new dream. This does not please Casey's mother, Joan (Joan Cusack), a drab teacher regularly scoffed at for her liberal leanings. Eventually, of course, Joan sees the error of her ways and agrees that Casey's place is at the rink, rather than in a Harvard lab. All this might be mildly palatable if the cast were able to rise above the material. But Trachtenberg is as mannered and self-conscious here as she was on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." The professional skaters who play her rivals are entertaining on the ice, but don't exactly steam up the sidelines as actresses. Cusack is excellent as Joan, the only woman in the film who values a girl's brains over her body, so it's a shame Fywell treats her with amused scorn. Cattrall is actually great fun as the morally depleted Tina, but such an unpleasant role needs to be balanced by some sensibility - of which, in this cold climate, there is simply none to be found.
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