Ice Princess

Review by David Bjerre

Rating

Designations & Trivia

Genre: GirlieTalk

Keywords:
Math geek, skating, rebellion.

Did you know that...
Michelle Trachtenberg had not skated prior to this film. During rehearsals and shooting she actually managed to get to the same level as her character.

THE STORY

The cold metal blades glide through the crystals of the icy surface, like a hot knife through butter. The mantra of your teacher repeats itself in the back of your head, like the chorus from past achievers on this field, chanting "don't lose it... don't lose it... don't lose it...". You come full circle in your mind, reach the point of the jump and you're suddenly airborne. For a moment, all your troubles and all your expectations disappear. You're like a bird in the sky floating through the air, in defiance of gravity, free... at last. Then there's a moment of silence. The world stands still. And then you land. Shockwaves ride through your body, the blades claw their way through the soft hardness below, like the teeth of a wild lion penetrating the skin of a frightened animal, whose fate is already sealed. Chipped ice sprays from your feet as you struggle to gain your balance. Slowly your mind wins the battle, and gravity concedes. For a moment the only sound for a thousand miles is your own breathing. Then the crowd catches on, and the roar is deafening. You've done the impossible. You made the jump. You now hold all the keys to all the doors. Everything you always wanted is yours. To the sound of the endless cheering you strike the final pose. A winner. Against all odds.

Welcome to the world of competitive figure skating.

First, let's get a proper introduction of our heroine. When we first meet Casey, she's skating on a small sickeningly idyllic pond outside of her house, where she lives alone with her women's rights obsessed mother. Gliding across the ice without a care in the world, it's obvious that Casey is truly at peace with a pair skates on her feet. But then her mother knocks on the window and calls her back to her studies.

Fast-forward to the end of the school year. Casey has been working hard, but now that school is almost over, she's faced with the fact that she'll have to do something special, to secure a scholarship to a prestigious college. Her science teacher suggests writing a report on something close to her heart, something personal. Then it dawns on Casey. This is the perfect chance to spend some time with figure skating. She'll write a paper on the science and the math behind the skating.Casey begins to follow a team of skaters training under the strict supervision of Tina Harwood, who was once a professional skater herself. The more time she spends watching the skaters, the more she wishes she was one of them. In secret she starts to train with the junior team, and it soon becomes apparent that she has a special talent. Despite her lack of previous professional training, she quickly moves up through the ranks.

Meanwhile her mother still doesn't know anything about her new passion. Which is probably a good thing. She taught Casey that she must get an education to succeed in this world, and that she must never succumb to society's perception of what a woman should be. And don't get her started on the degrading sport of figure skating!

Casey continues to train in secret. She keeps getting better, and with her knowledge of science she even helps the other skaters improve their jumps. But her schoolwork is being neglected, and soon she must make a decision. Should she drop everything and go back to her studies, or continue to chase her dream of becoming an Ice Princess?

REVIEW

I'm pretty sure the filmmakers behind "Ice Princess" expect us to take the film very seriously. That's a bit hard. What's not hard, though, is getting carried away in the sweet innocent rush of the film. We'll get back to that in a moment. First - let's look at the film's blatant lack of morals.
Basically all the adult characters in the story have questionable motives. Casey's mother was obviously abandoned by a man, which has turned her into a bitter old maid. She pushes her daughter towards her own dreams without concern for what Casey wants. Casey's teacher on the other hand, advocates the idea that it's okay to lie, cheat, steal, and kill to get what you want, and meanwhile a chorus of self-obsessed parents stand in the background yelling about their own little wonder, who surely deserves the recognition of the whole world.

"Ice Princess" sends a clear message to young women everywhere: Give up those silly dreams of an education, it'll get you nowhere. Instead, go for a career in figure skating! Forget that you'll burn up and dry out five years from now, the important thing is that you feel pretty.

Clearly this is NOT one of those films that parents can just pop in the dvd player, to keep their kids occupied for a few hours. Viewers who are young enough to take the film at face value should not watch it alone. They should have a parent supervising them, and constantly whispering in their ear, just how wrong it is to behave the way the characters of "Ice Princess" does.

Everybody else, though, is in for a treat. This is a ticket to an alternate reality, where you can let you dreams loose, and don't have to worry about how impractical they are. As such, "Ice Princess" is a masterpiece. It's filled with many well-observed details, sure to put a smile on your face. Take for example the scene where Casey's mother discovers her deceit. Casey comes home late, and accidentally drops her bag, whereupon the skates fall out on the floor. The mother looks at her daughter in horror, as if she'd found king size bag of dope in her belongings. "How could you?" she manages to say. Priceless.

Top that off with some energetically shot skating sequences. I'm not sure how they were accomplished, but it does appear that most of the actors actually skate themselves - though, of course, they didn't perform all the jumps themselves. And finally there's the adorable Michelle Trachtenberg as Casey. Trachtenberg comes into full bloom with this, her first lead role. She made an impression in the neo-classic "Eurotrip", and before that she was a regular on "Buffy", playing the titular character's little sister.

She's a petite wonder, who despite being very beautiful, can still play those slightly asexual characters where it's more important that she's a young person with a dream, and less important that she looks hot in those tight skating outfits. With her as the salesman, it's not difficult to buy into the sweet, naive, perverted central premise.

It's easy to question the validity of a film that promotes the idea that young women should dump those Harvard dreams and take up figure skating, but let's not go there. It's a bitter and dark place. Let's instead look at this as an empowerment of those same young women. A testament to the fact that it's okay to have big dreams, and that if you want to reach your goals you must give everything you have. Even though "Ice Princess" doesn't even get past the introductory course of morality class, it's almost impossibly to hate it. It's an alluring picture of a world that only exists in the movies.

Friends will find each other. Mothers and daughters will reconnect. There'll be laughter, there'll be tears. And maybe you'll cry a little bit too. I know I did.