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	Movie Review - Ice Princess (2005)     (What this rating means)       Director: Tim Fywell Starring: Michelle Trachtenberg, Joan Cusack, and Kim Cattrall Rated: G (for gay) Length: 92 minutes Genre: Family Dramady Tagline: Big things happen to those who dream big. Studio: Disney Website: Ice Princess Release: March 18, 2005 PLOT Casey Carlyle (Trachtenberg) has had one goal her entire life: to get into Harvard. In her junior year of high school, it looks like she has a shot when her physics professor suggests she do a project over the summer as part of a scholarship application. Casey decides to figure out a formula that applies to figure skating moves, and an overly acted, sometimes sappy, but thoroughly enjoyable movie ensues. MS. CALI'S TAKE This movie falls into the category of "So bad it's good." The writing is not great, and the acting is less than I expected (Michelle Trachtenberg delivers every line as if it's the last thing she'll ever say, and the rest of the cast is even worse). The storyline is rather predictable and sappy, but what else would you expect from a Disney movie geared toward pre-teen girls? This movie is about choosing between what you always thought you wanted and what you always loved to do, so it's filled with formulaic prerequisites you would expect from this type of movie: a mother (Joan Cusack) who doesn't support Casey's figure skating, the reigning ice princesses (Gen, Tiffany, and Nikki) who are stuck up and mean to Casey but eventually come around, and a crush object in the form of a zamboni driver. The one fresh part of the plot is Tina Harwood (Kim Cattrall, looking pretty awful), the owner of the Harwood Skate Club and coach of Gen Harwood (her daughter). While Cattrall's performance is not great, the character is not your typical coach who encourages Casey to go after her dream. There is no spouting of "If you work hard enough and want it enough, you can do this" from her. In fact, when Casey threatens Gen's career, she does exactly the opposite. The one thing that saves Ice Princess from a two-mark rating is the fact that Casey didn't just figure out a formula for figure skating and suddenly she's able to do a triple jump. She goes into the project with the intention of finding the formula and ends up taking a novice skating class in order to make the project more personal to her, thus giving her a better chance at the scholarship. She grew up skating on a pond near her house, so she knows her way around the ice, even if she doesn't know all the fancy moves at first. She works hard to get where she does. As she says in one of the hokiest yet most true lines of the movie, "The computer doesn't make the jumps, you do." Also, Michelle Trachtenberg studied figure skating for eight months before shooting the movie, so a lot of the scenes of Casey skating are really her. ODDS & ENDS Ms. Cali didn't send Johnny any info for this section, and he sure ain't gonna put his own effort into it. Michelle Trachtenberg was in Buffy the Vampire Slayer with Seth Green who was in Party Monster with Chloë Sevigny who is in Melinda and Melinda with Josh Brolin who was in Hollow Man with Kevin Bacon. MAMA'S APPROVAL Unless she sits next to my friends, whose minds tend to hover in the vicinity of the gutter no matter what is on the screen, Mama shouldn't find anything to object to. The ideal audience is of course girls 8 and up; any younger than that, and they'll probably be bored. TRAILER COMPARISON I think the trailer gives a bit more of the idea that Casey figures out this formula and "bam" she can skate competitively. If you look at the trailer and think, "I love figure skating, I love sappy movies like this, I want to see it," you’ll probably enjoy the movie. If you look at the trailer and think, "Ugh. My wife/girlfriend/daughter is going to drag me to see this," you might be surprised to find there is enough in the movie to make fun of. At least, that's what Mr. Cali told me. THE GIST Ice Princess is the type of movie that you shouldn't like – it has bad acting, bad writing, and a sappy plot, but it really is enjoyable.	RETURN TO HOME PAGE Death Race Star Wars: Clone Wars The Dark Knight Journey to the Center of the Earth Hancock Get Smart The Incredible Hulk The Strangers Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Young at Heart Weekend Results: 1. The Dark Knight($26,117,030) 2. Pineapple Express($23,245,025) 3. The Mummy 3($16,490,970) 4. Traveling Pants 2($10,678,430) 5. Step Brothers($9,128,662)

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