Michelle Trachtenberg

Ice Princess - Goes For The Gold

The Disney Studios have come up with another winner in "Ice Princess" starring Michele Trachtenberg. This film is so likeable, so enjoyable, so warmly entertaining that it should create a franchise similar to and as successful as another "Princess" movie - "The Princess Diaries." It is easy to imagine the story of Casey Carlyle and her pursuit of ice skating fame as being a continuing saga.

This film starts with Casey (Trachtenberg) being a bright high school student. She makes great grades but is a little less then polished on her social skills. Her mother (Joan Cusack) wants her to go Harvard and have a wonderful life in academia and for now that is fine with Casey. She even begins work on a Physics project that could win her some money for college.

The project is studying the connection between ice-skating and aerodynamics. Casey goes to the local rink to observe the skaters and there meets Tina Harwood (Kim Cattrall) who is the local skating coach. She is also the mother of Gen (Hayden Panettiere), one of Casey’s fellow students.

Eventually Casey decides to try her luck on the ice and learns she has a natural affinity for ice-skating. It becomes her passion and that brings her into conflict with her mother and her mother’s plans. Eventually Casey has to make a choice between following her passion and being the obedient daughter.

Trachtenberg is fantastic in the role of Casey. This fine young actress started out as a child star and later achieved a measure of fame as Buffy’s little sister on the TV series "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer." But this is the movie that will make her a household name.

She is almost swanlike in her beauty as she glides over the ice, and thanks to great photography it is difficult to find scenes where she does not appear to be doing her own skating.

Cattrall and Cusack provide better than average support in their roles as the dueling adults in Casey’s life. Panettiere is also very good as the popular girl who becomes one of Casey’s staunchest supporters. Trevor Blumas is fine in the role of "the boyfriend."

The film is rated G but do not take that as a negative. This is not a sticky sweet story but rather one that is just told without the necessity of profanity and sexual innuendoes.

The only negative with this movie at all is that it does not have a great musical score. It doesn’t have that one big song or that one big chilling moment when the music swells and the story soars.

Young girls are going to go wild over this movie. They are the target audience and it will thrill them to no end to watch Casey pursue her dream. But others can also enjoy this movie and its story. It has a plot that is relatable to all ages and both genders.

"Ice Princess" is a movie that moves the heart in all the right places. Trachtenberg is the perfect person for the title role and the supporting cast makes sure she is seen in the best light. It’s a fantasy escapist film but one that is rooted in reality.

I scored "Ice Princess" a frosty 7 out of 10.