Ice Princess

***Ice Princess*** is a 2005 American figure-skating film directed by Tim Fywell, written by Hadley Davis from a story by Meg Cabot and Davis, and starring Michelle Trachtenberg, Joan Cusack, Kim Cattrall and Hayden Panettiere. The film focuses on Casey Carlyle, a normal teenager who gives up a promising future academic life in order to pursue her new-found dream of being a professional figure skater. The film was released on March 18, 2005. *Ice Princess* had an unsuccessful performance at the box office, grossing $24 million in the United States during its theatrical run against a production budget of $25 million.

## Plot

Casey Carlyle (Michelle Trachtenberg), a very smart and talented science student, plans to pursue a scholarship to Harvard University. For the scholarship, Casey must present a personal summer project about physics. While watching a figure skating competition with her mathematically inclined friend Ann, Casey realizes that her favorite childhood hobby, ice skating, would make a perfect project. She decides to try to improve her own skating by applying physics and what she has discovered from watching other skaters.

She becomes proficient and skips two levels to become a junior skater. She helps junior skaters Gennifer "Gen" Harwood (Hayden Panettiere)  Tiffany Lai (Jocelyn Lai) and Nikki Fletcher (Kirsten Olson) improve their skating. Torn between her Harvard dream and her growing love of skating, Casey has difficulty juggling schoolwork, skating, and a part-time job. Joan Carlyle (Joan Cusack) Casey's mother, attempts to prevent Casey from skating due to her declining academic performance. Meanwhile, tension arises between Casey's mother and Casey's coach Tina Harwood (Kim Cattrall), a disgraced former skater.

Tina, who manages the rink where Casey trains, has Gen on a strict training program. During a competition where both Casey and Gen compete, Tina sees that Casey may outrank Gen, and sabotages Casey's performance by buying her new skates, Casey being unaware of the inadvisability of using skates in competition that have not been broken in. Upset at this, and frustrated by all the restrictions of training, Gen quits. Casey declines the Harvard scholarship competition to devote herself to skating, to her mother's dismay. Casey asks Tina to be her personal coach and help her train for sectionals. Her mother, upset at this change of direction in her life, refuses to watch her skate.

At the sectionals, Casey's mind is not fully focused on the competition, and she falls while attempting a triple salchow jump. To her surprise, she discovers that her mother is in the audience. Inspired, Casey gives a highly rated artistic performance. The sectionals ends with Nikki going to the nationals and Casey becoming the runner-up. Gen's brother, Teddy (Trevor Blumas), gives Casey flowers to congratulate her, and they kiss. Later, Joan and Tina bicker about how many college courses Casey should take, Teddy and Casey's budding romance, Casey's sponsors, and Casey's future in figure skating.

## Cast

* Michelle Trachtenberg as Casey Carlyle
* Joan Cusack as Joan Carlyle
* Kim Cattrall as Tina Harwood
* Hayden Panettiere as Gen Harwood