Château de rêves

Johnson plays fictitious figure skater Alexis Winston, whose widower father (Skerritt) reluctantly allows master coach (Warren) to take her to the big city for a chance to demonstrate her unique talents and compete in the national titles. She leaves behind her boyfriend (Benson) and local skate rink owner (Dewhurst) and is soon consumed by the trappings of high profile sport and fair-weather friends, wooed by a much older newscaster (Huffman) and forced to endure the spotlight of TV in addition to her rigorous training schedule. But just as she's about to reach the heights of success, she's felled prematurely in a shocking accident that robs her of her sight, and it seems, her dream. With the aid of family and 'true' friends, she attempts an audacious comeback.

Set to the backdrop of Melissa Manchester's commanding theme song ("Looking Through the Eyes of Love"), "Ice Castles" is the "Flashdance" of the late seventies, with generally strong performances by the cast. Johnson's maturity belies her age, underrated Jennifer Warren delivers a strong performance as the perfectionist coach, while Dewhurst has a couple of intense scenes to display her range, notably where she confronts Johnson in the attic where she's apparently given up on life in favour of a shallow existence of self pity.

Typical feel-good movie is elevated by Dewhurst's performance and the Oscar-nominated theme song (the rest of the soundtrack isn't bad either, e.g. "Midnight Blue" and "A Fifth of Beethoven"), but probably attempts to milk too much sympathy as films of this ilk often do from the audience. One of those films you probably wouldn't seek to watch, but nevertheless find yourself engaged to the end in spite of yourself.

I am not going to lie, this film is utterly depressing. The dreary atmosphere and the sad love story come together and make our tears flow. Simple story concerning a young girl who vows to become a professional ice skater, the boy she loves, and the tragedy that follows. Good performances from Skerritt and Dewhurst as usual, average from Benson and the rest of the cast. The finale is a real tearjerker, featuring the wonderful Melissa Manchester song. Though the film is somewhat predictable and extremely corny, it is still a good little film made with good intentions. 7/10

While I do agree with some of the other reviewers...a lot of unnecessary cussing...I believe that is Hollywood's version of showing rough and tough small town Midwesterners, so it was easy to overlook for me. Because I was raised in small town Minnesota...where this was filmed...I can attest that in fact, some of the edgier people in the town I grew up in did talk like that on occasion, so I guess it wasn't too far from the truth. That said, I think overall, the plot and emotions in this movie are a lot deeper than what is thrown on screen before us these days!! And for the reviewer who said that continuity was off when Lexie changed caps and coats...I think you missed out on a subtle hint the director was trying to show in time passing...as Lexie also became a stronger skater with every costume change in the sequence. Obviously, she didn't do it the moment she got up on her skates, so I think you missed out. Someone also mentioned that the 'Live Televised Broadcast' was a goof because there was no audience...but it was not a goof! It was televised on live camera on Christmas Eve, according to the plot line. Did not specify it was to be before an audience. News broadcasts are always live, and they don't have an audience, either. Nor do I think Robby Benson sounds remotely from Brooklyn, but that's another story altogether. Over all, I like this film a lot! Of course, Robby Benson was my big crush since Ode to Billie Joe, so I am a bit biased, but I think even without him, it would be a pretty good piece of film work. I give it a 7 out of 10!!

Still powerful and well told with strong performances all around. I see a lot of reviews grousing and nitpicking over silly things like the language which was fine and authentic to me. Some people just have to spoil things and find reasons to complain. I was pleased it holds up as well as it does but then simple, well told stories with strong emotional cores are timeless and this is one of them. I enjoyed it as much now as I did when I was a kid and it first came out. A classic.

I know it is kind of sappy and hackneyed, but Ice Castles is one of my favorite films of all time. I try to watch it at least once a month, and it still makes me cry. Honestly, Ice Castles might have changed my life, as it inspired me to skate. I wanted to be a part of that beautiful, graceful world. Lynn Holly Johnson skated so wonderfully in this movie. I tried for years to duplicate her arms on that Camel Spin she does in the Fifth of Beethoven program. Oh! and that theme song "Through the Eyes of Love" is great too. It inspired me to play the piano also! I guess I still consider this one of my "guilty pleasures" as I do not widely admit that I am such a fan of this obscure 70s movie.