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Oooookay…..
I’m not afraid to say it. When I saw
the original “Ice Castles” with
Robby Benson and Lynn Holly Johnson…
I was hooked. It was schmaltzy and sappy,
melodramatic and sugary sweet. But I loved
it. It was a very innocent movie with great
characters and awesome skating (the only
sport that I even take a remote interest
in… and no… I am not gay…).
I always thought Robby Benson was a highly
underrated actor who suffered rather than
excelled because of his good looks. And
how many of us were surprised when he lent
his voice to the Beast in Disney’s
“Beauty and the Beast”?
But not nearly as surprised as I was to
see that someone had opted to make a remake
– which feels like the 20th remake
I’ve reviewed this month (come on
Hollywood, give us a break… and some
originality!!). It was updated to give it
a more 21st Century appeal, but like most
remakes, it failed to elicit the same emotions
and sweetness that the first did so well.
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Most of the plot remains the same, but the update
feels like it makes the story less meaningful
with its focus on hip music over characterization.
The new “Ice Castles” casts Taylor
Firth in the role of Lexi, a small town girl with
dreams of being a professional ice skater. With
the love and support of her family, and the grueling
regimen of her coach, Lexi finds she is well on
her way to realizing her dreams… until an
accident robs her of her sight. Her dreams shattered,
Lexi falls into a state of depression until the
love of a young college hockey player (Rob Mayes)
rebuilds her confidence and teaches her that nothing
can ever truly stop a dream from coming true.
Sounds sappy right? Well, like the original movie
it kind of is. But unlike the original, the performances
by the cast simply aren’t as good. Firth
is a real life professional skater, as was Lynn-Holly
Johnson, but she goes too far in trying to make
herself seem like a small town girl. It doesn’t
come across as natural. The same could be said
for Mayes, who also tries too hard to come across
as an innocent nice guy. Their relationship seems
cold (which might have something to do with all
the ice…) and, well… fake. I will
say that the skating sequences are terrific, but
that’s pretty much all the film has to offer.
Sony’s Bluray edition offers a strong transfer,
with color palettes sharp and clean. The only
time I noticed anything odd was during some of
the faster skating sequences where there was some
blurring, but that was probably more a case of
the equipment used to shoot the film. The soundtrack
sounds fine when dealing with the dialogue and
ambient sounds, but the musical interludes didn’t
sound as though they had enough bass. Extra features
include a promotional featurette with interviews
of everyone gushing over the film and co-stars
and a handful of deleted scenes.
“Ice Castles” 2009 isn’t a
bad film, it just seems to clean and too polished
compared to the original. It was harder to buy
into the characters as real people and at times
it felt emotionally detached from its audience.
But hey… there’s some good skatin’!!
Directed by: Donald Wrye
Starring: Taylor Firth, Rob Mayes, Michelle Kwan
Extras: Deleted Scenes; Behind the Scenes Featurette
Specification: Widescreen (1.85:1); 5.1 Dolby
Digital
Studio: Sony
Release Date: 2/9/2010
MPAA Rating: PG
http://www.sonypictures.com/dvd
We'll give Ice Castles (2009) a C.
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