Michelle Trachtenberg Movie:

Editorial Review:
Like The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, Ice Princess is a fairy tale for girls who dream about what they can be. Casey Carlyle (Michelle Trachtenberg of Buffy the Vampire Slayer) is a physics geek who discovers a mathematical formula for those tricky figure-skating jumps that her fellow high schoolers are performing. It's all part of her plan to nab a juicy college scholarship, but a funny thing happens on the way to Harvard: Casey decides that in the name of research she should try the jumps herself, and she discovers that not only does she have talent, she likes figure skating. Will she throw away her Ivy League dreams in favor of those frilly dresses? Ice Princess isn't a movie that will change the world, and it treads lightly on the downsides of the sport (it costs a lot of money, rivalries are bitter, careers are short, and long hours mean less time to party!); there's also more than one unfortunate reference to how skating makes Casey look "hot." But just as Casey says: "What's wrong with wanting to feel strong and graceful and beautiful?", what's wrong with a movie that lets people explore their options and make decisions for themselves? The on-ice action is believable, and Trachtenberg is especially appealing in the lead role. With Kim Cattrall as the snarling coach, Joan Cusack as Casey's anxious mom, Trevor Blumas as the light romantic interest, Hayden Panettiere as the rival, and champion skaters Michelle Kwan and Brian Boitano as themselves.--David Horiuchi

Ice Princess Reviews:
didn't like the movie
2009-09-07 - I AM TAKEN PHYSICS AND THERE WERE SOME ERRORS IN THIS MOVIE FOR EXAMPLE: At the party, Casey states that "velocity times momentum equals acceleration". This is false; velocity multiplied by momentum yields only mv2, which is just kinetic energy multiplied by two. This isn't an expression for acceleration, and is not fundamentally meaningful. In fact, force divided by mass equals acceleration.

NOT a good message for young girls
2009-03-16 - So many people are saying "It's a great message - following your dreams." Sure, that is a good message. But when the Disney writers teach young girls that it's "fantastic" to be an ice skater and nerdy/geeky/boring to be scholastic, then we have a problem. It's movies like these that tell girls that they should focus on dresses, makeup, and hair (which is fine if their life isn't consumed by it...) and dream to be world-famous figure skaters. But getting a full scholarship to Harvard to study physics? Why would any girl in her right mind throw that away to pursue a silly dream where you'll be famous for a couple years and then everyone will forget about you??!!!

Girls need more messages showing how they can excel in math/science/engineering especially if it's obvious they have a talent for it. They can pursue something more worthwhile than skating around on the ice.

Parents - don't buy this for your daughter.

I gave it two stars instead of one because it was kind of fun to watch... I just don't agree with the message.

entertaining
2008-10-18 - I found the dvd quite entertaining but I like the fact that it shows young people that you can 'have roots and wings.' The fact that the title character could use her head and her athletic ability is great.

Sweet, charming, and fun.
2008-08-31 - This movie is great for a rainy afternoon. Though rather predictable, a movie like this should be exactly that.

Miss Trachtenberg, as the protagonist, is able to glide effortlessly from physics geek to skater chic, while remaining completely sincere and convincing in both halves of her role.

Kim Cattrall portrays her complex, driven, yet deeply troubled character splendidly.

Hayden Panettiere and Joan Cusack provide great support to the main characters.

The soundtrack is excellent, as can be expected of a Disney film. With artists like Emma Roberts and Hayden Panettiere providing a bubbly score.

All in all, it's a fun and enjoyable, charming family film.

Good...not Great
2008-07-01 - It was an okay movie but I don't know anything about figure skating or physics to understand it fully. I didn't find the ending very good and it wasn't really extremely funny or entertaining. It was an okay movie though.