Ice Princess (DVD)

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Meanwhile, things are so routine we can guess every action a cliché in advance. Casey wants to be an ice skater, and a friend of hers, Gen Harwood (Hayden Panettiere), who is an ice skater, wants to be a normal student. Naturally, Gen's mother (Kim Cattrall), a former Olympic skater, wants her to be an Olympian, too. According to schedule for a teen movie, parents must either be horrible or nonexistent, and in this case both Cusack's and Cattrall's characters are horrid, demanding, and pushy. And there are the expected mean-spirted classmates and skaters, and the expected romantic interest for the heroine in the form of a hunky, handsome older teen (Trevor Blumas) who sees Casey for the wonderful, sensitive girl she really is.

This was director Tim Fywell's first theatrical feature after doing years of television work, and it shows. The movie comes off like an after-school special, the acting wooden, the children, especially, reciting their lines with the enthusiasm of kids in a school play. The characters change life directions in an instant, Casey becoming a championship-quality skater almost overnight. The pacing is listless. And banal, soft-rock pop tunes underscore just about every other scene. The opening sequence says a lot about what's to come: We see Ms. Trachtenberg gliding around the ice on a frozen pond near her house, her face beaming as the music swells, her mom looking out the window and smiling from ear to ear.

"Ice Princess" is supposed to be uplifting and exhilarating, an inspirational story of determination and goal-setting and pursuing one's yearnings no matter where they lead. As such, the movie probably works fine for the viewer who is not too demanding of anything new. Personally, I found it a very long ninety-nine minutes to sit through.

Video:
It wasn't too long before this release that Buena Vista finally saw the wisdom in transferring their films to disc at a high bit rate. They had been doing anamorphic (enhanced) transfers for some time before. The result is that "Ice Princess" looks terrific. The screen size measures out at almost the exact dimensions of a widescreen TV, 1.78:1, and the colors are gorgeous. Definition is excellent; grain is unnoticeable; tonal balances are natural; and strong blacks make contrasts stand out. There are some very minor moiré or motion effects to be seen in closely spaced horizontal lines, but that's common to some degree on most discs, and there is a touch of murkiness in darker areas of the screen, nothing of much concern.

Audio:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 sonics are clear and clean, but like the movie they are mundane. There isn't much the audio has to do but reproduce bland pop music and dialogue, which it does with commendable if lackluster efficiency. A couple of noises and a note of applause toward the end of the movie seep into the surrounds, but it's hardly anything to make one aware of the sound system at all.

Extras:
Among the extras we find the usual complement of items. The first, need I mention, is the compulsory audio commentary, this one done by actors Micehlle Trachtenberg, Hayden Panettiere, Trevor Blumas, and Kirsten Olson. They are all young, and they sound it, which I suppose is the point. Next, there are five deleted scenes in widescreen, including an alternate opening, none of them of much interest to me; and two music videos, "Reach" by Caleigh Peters and "No One" by Aly & A.J., that were of even less interest. Finally, there are twelve scene selections (with a chapter insert); Sneak Peeks at eight other Buena Vista titles; English and French spoken languages; and French subtitles, with English captions for the hearing impaired.

Parting Shots:
Disney's 2005 "Ice Princess" should not be confused with the 1995 made-for-television musical, "The Ice Princess," not that most people would probably notice the difference. Still, "Ice Princess" is undoubtedly meant for younger female teens, and as such it probably works just fine, sweet as it is. But I don't think by the highest standards of moviemaking that the story, characters, direction, or themes hold up well to the scrutiny of an adult. At least, not to this adult.