Un ticket pour les jeux

"Personal Best" opens with a beautiful shot: a lone spot of sweat on the cement as the camera pans slowly upwards to Mariel Hemingway's tense profile as she prepares for a race. Soon afterward, however, the actress opens her mouth and out comes this little girl voice with a puny range. It's only natural to think this is going to be a tough role for Hemingway to pull off, but I believe she has done it. Gay-themed dramas are always something of a risk for the actors involved, yet Hemingway takes her sprinting character from naive mouse to sexy girlfriend to adult in the course of "Personal Best" and becomes a better, stronger actress in the process. Although an excessively barbed film with two gratuitous sub-plots (both involving men: a manipulative coach and an eleventh-hour boyfriend for Mariel), the picture has great '70s atmosphere, good race scenes, some funny, raunchy humor, and an even-handed, focused look at two women in love (lesbian lover Patrice Donnelly is a very moody cuss, but that's certainly no reason to drag in the boyfriend, which is where the movie starts hedging its bets). Two-hours-plus of Mariel Hemingway may sound like too much, but she's very good here; she carries most of this film on her shoulders and pulls off some very tricky sequences. This was her own 'personal best'. ** from ****

... and the culture had not changed that much at that point such that many changes had to be made other than to be sure the soundtrack was very 70s, and the film does indeed dig up some great 70s oldies.

This is the story of two athletes - Chris (Mariel Hemingway) and Tory (Patrice Donnely) - from 1976 to 1980 as they train for the 1980 Olympics, hoping to go for the gold, only to have the Russian invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and the resulting boycott of the 1980 Olympics by the USA prevent them from training for anything but the satisfaction of personal accomplishment.

This is also probably the first film to portray a lesbian relationship in a meaningful and realistic way. It shows how Chris and Tory fall in love, how they bond over their desire to be Olympic athletes, and how the athletic competition between them as well as jealousy gradually tear the relationship apart.

But this was also 1982, so the filmmakers insert what looks like now to be gratuitous nudity to lure would be moviegoers of the day. Looking back now some of the overt sexism and even racism is rather stark. There is coach Terry Tingloff (Scott Glenn) going on and on about how he could have coached men and been a REAL coach. There is a scene in a steam room where one of the African American athletes tells a racist joke. And there is lots of weed smoking before the era of "just say no".

I'd recommend it, but just realize that the film has long stretches that are solely about competition, preparation, and the little quirks of fate that can affect performance one way or the other. If that bores you, then you are likely not going to get much out of this viewing experience.

With Larry Pennell as Chris' overbearing demanding coach/dad who just disappears after the first ten minutes, never to be heard from again, and actor/athlete Kenny Moore as Denny Stites, Chris' boyfriend after her break up with Tory, and possibly the world's oldest living college athlete since he was 38 when this film was made and 18 years older than Hemingway.

As flawed as it might seem, and as much as Mariel Hemingway's body may have been exploited in the interest of box office sales... This was a very important movie for me and many girls my age. It was the first movie we ever saw that let us know that we weren't the only girls in the world who liked other girls. And it showed us that this could be beautiful and that we weren't freaks. For that it will always hold a special place in my heart. And the same goes for many other lesbians around my age.

The best part of this film is you get a look at Eugene, Oregon, the mecca of track and field in the early 1980s. Mariel Hemingway is pretty convincing as a pentathlete. She is tall, very fit and moves with much of the grace of a hurdler. Of note is that most of the others in this film, with the exception of Scott Glenn were actual world-class athletes. Jane Fredrick and Kate Schmidt were top women and Al Feuerbach was a champion shot-putter. Kenny Moore, who plays Hemingway's male love-interest is cast as a water polo player. In reality Moore, who does a very good job finished 4th in the Olympic Marathon, was numerous events, but was cursed with running at the same time as Frank Shorter (has a bit part playing a TV announcer). Moore was also a frequent contributor for Sports Illustrated. This is not a genre-defining movie (if there is a genre of this type), but it is quite watchable and gives one a hint of the life of track athletes in the era before they were allowed to be paid above the table.

Personal Best is a gripping film about competition and pushing oneself to the absolute limit - what you leave behind in the process and what you build. Mariel Hemingway's character Chris is blessed with natural talent but initially lacks the drive and motivation that has taken her soon-to-be lover Tori to a higher level in women's track and field. When Chris begins training with Tori and Tori's coach takes her under his wing, Chris moves to the next level.

As Chris' and Tori's romantic relationship begins and then evolves, the competition between them intensifies. Chris' coach Scott Glen remarks to Chris, "I don't know which scares you more, beating Tori Skinner or losing to her." Her quandary culminates at the Olympic Trials where Chris and Tori compete for 2 of the 3 spots on the US Women's Pentathalon Team. And the result is unpredictable yet makes perfect sense - and it was even more meaningful given that the competition was for spots non an Olympic team that wasn't going anywhere, as the Moscow Olypics would take place without the US athletes.