Reviews (29)

Better than I remembered!!
I was about 13 when I first saw this movie. Now I am 35 and just saw it again on HBO. I immediatly ordered this movie for my 12 yr. old daughter. It's a movie every young girl will love. I had forotten how lovely Lynn-Holly was and the movie brought back my boyhood crush. Her acting was good but her skating was even better as she did all the skating for the movie herself. Robby Benson played the roll to his best and as an actor never received the recognition he deserved. Tom Skeritt (Top Gun) also stars in this movie and also played his part well. As a father, I recommend this movie to other fathers who have young daughters. This movie is very appropriate for young eyes and gives a positive message to our children. See this movie and you will understand what I mean.

Inspirational. Must see. This movie will keep you humble.
This movie is a must see. Particularly if you're a skater and if you're not, you're going to wish you were. This movie is one of the most unforgettable movies I've ever seen even though I was only ten years old when I saw it for the first time. I could watch it over and over and cry every time I do. Now at the age of 35, it continues to touch my heart with its sweet innocence. The main character Lexi who's a naive small town girl is more talented than she relizes, and more talented than her father (Tom Skeritt) realized. However there are two people who acknowledged her talent. One, which was her childhood boyfriend (Robbie Benson) who thought the sun, rose and set around Lexi. She could do the most uncomplicated, straightforward move on the ice and he thought she was startling. They were best friends and shared an innocent, childlike, pure wholesome love for each other. The other person was Lexi's coach who truly recognized her talent for what it really was. She wanted Lexi to attend a competition however needed to persuade Lexi and her father that Lexi was exclusive and that her ability was of a caliber greater than they could ever imagine. As difficult as it was, her overprotective father let her go. Lexi proved to be successful repeatedly in one competion after another. Soon she became popular within the skating group. Lexi was somebody now within the prestigious group of skaters and coaches. This went to her head and started to lose that sweet innocence which made her so special. She became overconfident, smug and cheated on her boyfriend Nick with someone who was a recognized body within the skating crowd. Nick was no longer politically correct for Lexi. He was now just a small town nobody. During a posh skating gathering Lexi's passion to skate took over as she gazed intensely out over the dimly lit shimmering, iridescent ice surface. Every skater understand how such an ice surface is almost hypnotic and draws you to it. It allows you to be free to express your inner self and to be one with the ice. For a skater it's the only place you can truly do that and be completely fulfilled and gratified doing it. This movie depicts a skaters passion and dedication for the sport so well it unbelievable. While Lexi skated so elegantly from the heart, and skating in the manner she was meant to skate, she noticed her new friends admiring her from up above. Suddenly, Lexi's egotism became apparent and tainted her beautiful natural style. She was no longer skating for the love of the sport, or from the heart. She was cocky, trying to impress her new friends who were shallow themselves. Lexi became overconfident and as a result received serious injuries that would change her life forever. The prestigious skating crowd soon forgot Lexi as she could no longer skate. She returned to her hometown to the people who truly loved her. They stayed by her side to get her through this horrible adjustment,including her boyfriend Nick. Nick was able to get Lexi back on the ice. He worked hard with her as he knew Lexi's zest for life was skating. Without her skates, Lexi was nothing. Miraculously, Lexi skated again. Lexi skated comfortably and gracefully on the ice just like she used to. The crowd wasn't aware of her disability and that's the way Lexi wanted it. She wanted to be judged fairly and on her ability. She didn't want to get the sympathy vote. When Lexi's solo was over, the crowd cheered for her. It was apparent, Lexi won the competition without a doubt. She received a standing ovation and Lexi was alive again. However, there was one factor Nick and Lexi overlooked in order to keep her disability a secret. When Nick realized their oversight, he was fearful for Lexi, and as a viewer, you will be too.The crowd was astonished by what they saw. The building went silent. Lexi scared, and feeling lost cried out. Her reliable Nick walked out onto the ice and helped her up off the ice. The crowd cheered even harder for Lexi as she left the ice surface with Nick on her arm. This is truly a story of triumph over tragedy. As a result of this movie, the theme song "Looking through the Eyes of Love" by Melissa Manchester was the most popular song in the skating world. Every skater at one time or another no doubt skated to it as it carries such a powerful message. It's absolutely beautiful.

Hate to be a kill-joy
Although I loved the movie's positive messages of triumph, I had a hard time with the fact that Lexie was only 16, yet was romantically involved with the newscaster,Brian, who was obviously in his twenties or more, and also with Nick who was college-age. This constitutes statutory rape, and I don't think that aspect of the movie is a positive influence on an impressionable young girl at all.

I mean, this is the kind of movie today that draws all kinds of criticism for it's politically charged content. Imagine that movie coming out today!!

Back when I watched it 25 years ago, the statutory rape thing was not an issue like it is today, but it is a very real problem. Because of this, I don't know if I would let my teen daughter watch it. I may, but preface it with, "Now, this part is wrong, but just get the good messages out of it"....but that seems somewhat hypocritical. So at this point, I am undecided.

Still Great After All These Years!!!
My wife and I both agree that this is one of the best romance/overcoming great difficulties movies ever! I am 37 now and still remember the movies premiere like it was yesterday. I find it's love story refreshing...it is clean and clear unlike most modern movies. Show it to your kids...let them feel good and shed some tears together!

This Movie SOOOOOOO GOOD~!
I loved this movie!
My mom highly recommended this movie to me.
It was so emotional and I loved to watch Lexie skating.
This movie's kind of old but I think every teenagers should watch this movie (I think girls would love this) It made me humble. I became big fan of Robby Benson (He's SOOOOOO CUTE! My mom loved this guy when she was 13.) and Lynn-Holly Johnson.
Buy this one! It's one of my favorites! ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Classic '70s Made-For-TV Movie!
I was really lucky to be able to find a new copy of this movie on VHS. I remember it well from it's first broadcast in 1974 on NBC, and all the controversy it generated due to [a rape] scene. This scene was edited from reruns, but is in tact on video. Linda Blair plays a teenage runaway that ends up in juvenile hall due to her parents request & constant running away. It was made during an era on Network TV when they were trying to convey a message in the movies they broadcast. The fashions, the hairstyles and the classic acting by Linda Blair, make this a must own for anyone that appreciates the classic made-for-tv movies of the '70s.

Heavy; dated but still disturbing.
This film made TV history in 1974 for the explicit gang rape scene, since edited from subsequent network-airings. I saw it in its entirety recently, and found that, although dated, the movie still has some emotional power.
Linda Blair plays Christine Parker, an incorrigible runaway, who falls victim to the uncaring juvenile legal system and winds up in a reform school. Frightened and naive, Chris becomes easy prey for the more street-wise girls in the school, culminating in the controversial rape scene. Traumatized, she tries to escape the school, only to find herself placed in isolation. Frustrated by a disastrous reunion with her family, and a thwarted attempt to make it on the outside, she goes back to the school hardened and hostile. Eventually, Chris turns inward and by the end has become as apathetic and hopeless as her peers.
Filmed as a type of "Scared Straight", there is a gritty, non-flinching quality about the film that is like a kick in the gut.
Blair gives one of her best performances in the movie, and creates a realistic portrayal. Unfortunately, there are a few dated scenes and some situations that are not very believable. But overall, the film holds up as a powerful and rather sad statement on the juvenile justice system.

Great Classic Movie!
I first starting watching this movie when I was three years old in 1985 and It's a throwback to my toddler years when I watch this movie today.Just like Linda Blair this film is a classic!she does a awesome job acting and I'm very glad it came on Dvd.

I definately recommend this!

Bored instance
Linda Blair play a 14-year old runaway who gets caught up in the reformatory system. Ho hum.

This 1974 TV-movie has all the bad qualities of, well, a TV movie. Uninspired lighting and photography, sappy music, and mostly mediocre acting.

The bare-bones DVD claims the the movie is "digitally mastered and uncut - contains original graphic rape scene!" In reality, the assault by girls with a toilet plunger is not that graphic, but Linda's nipple is exposed for about one second - probably the real reason this scene was cut in subsequent TV airings. Also, the cover drawing of Linda Blair with pushed-up breasts and half-unzipped pants is found nowhere in the movie. That is a sad commentary on the marketing of this crappy movie.

An Important and Powerful Film
This is a powerful and moving film about a young girl's rejection by an unloving family and her odyssey through jail, court and a State Home for Girls. But mainly it is about the loss of innocence, loss of faith in self and in others, and of optimism and of hope.

When this made for television film first aired on NBC in 1974, it produced a storm of controversy due to its graphic depiction of abuses in a State Home for Girls. Filmed on location in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the story chronicles the imprisonment and family life of 14 year old runaway Christine Parker, played by Linda Blair in an almost flawless performance. Intelligent and a good student, but confronted with an abusive father and alcoholic mother, she is a chronic runaway and is ultimately made a ward of the State at the behest of her parents. Christine is arrested by the local police and placed overnight in an adult jail, sharing a dormitory with adult inmates, an unfortunate practice that still continues to this day in some jurisdictions. From here she is transferred to a jail for juveniles, made a ward of the court and ulimately sent to a State Home for Girls, where she is subjected to numerous abuses, mainly by other residents at the Home, and culminating in her rape with the handle of a toilet scrubber brush by other female residents in her dormitory. The film manages to avoid predictable stereotypes in its portrayal of even the most predatory teenage residents. They are presented as multi-dimensional characters, disfunctional yet human.

Christine tries unsuccessfully to escape and is placed in the isolation unit. Here she confides to her teacher, played with exceptional ability by Joanna Miles, that she had been raped. The scene in which the teacher helps Christine to confide in her, talking to and holding Christine through the small opening in the isolation cell, is directed and performed with much sensitivity and skill, and is one of the most powerful scenes in the film.

Christine's teacher manages to obtain permission for Christine to be returned to her family on a trial basis, but her father becomes abusive again and Christine runs away to her brother who, preoccupied with his new wife and child, turns Christine over to the authorities. Returned to the State Home for Girls, Christine is disillusioned and almost without hope, but Christine's teacher has Christine paired off with another girl resident who is pregnant, and Christine's faith is briefly restored as she helps her friend with her pregnancy. This too ends tragically, as her friend hemorrhages while the two are in the isolation unit, after they are mistakenly believed to have started a fight in the messhall.

By the end of the film, there is little if anything for Christine to believe in, and seemingly no where to go. She becomes indistinguishable from the other residents in the institution, begins to manipulate staff, loses faith in her suppotive teacher and apparently with life as well.

It is to the film's credit that there are no typical villainous characters that can be conveniently blamed. The staff in the institution is portrayed without stereotype and as people who, for the most part, are well intentioned and supportive. Even the dormitory matron, played by Allyn Ann McLerie, who has Christine and her pregnant friend placed in isolation, is treated compassionately in the film as someone who is trying under very difficult conditions to maintain a semblance of order and to protect her charges. It is only clear that the circumstances of confinement and family life are at fault, but the film offers no easy or predictable answers.

Unfortunately, the packaging of the film on VHS and now on DVD does little to convey the quality and seriousness of the film. While its release on DVD is overdue, the film and actress deserve better than the DVD jacket with the drawing (which is not based on any scene in the movie) of Linda Blair as Christine posing seductively with her fly half open. Nonetheless, this is an outstanding and important film that is committed to uncompromising realism and honesty, and is not afraid to deviate from the typical formulas for movie making. ... Read more

Description

Just as Lainey Berman (Rebecca De Mornay, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, Risky Business) seems to have exhausted all hope that her husband will recover from a sustained coma, she finds that the strength of their love has the power to touch both the heart and head. The Berman's nightmare begins when Jay takes a dangerous fall and is hit on the head during an early morning run in the woods. Alive, but left virtually lifeless, Jay and his cash-strapped family endure one hopeless episode after another in what ends up being a cold lesson in the reality of health care economics. With Jay assigned to a depressing, second-rate rehabilitation center, it's up to Lainey to provide the nurturing and tireless effort needed to somehow create a miracle. Back home, she struggles to keep her family together. For support, she can only turn to her friend Alice, who is also facing her own domestic problems. This is more than a tale of a woman hoping for her soul mate's return. This is a story of families separating and coming together, of friendships, and of the strong bond that exists between two people that helps them get through difficult times, and in rare instances, helps them rediscover the gift of love. Based on the book by Elizabeth Berg. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

This movie helps people get through hard times
I was attracted to this movie since I read "Range of Motion" by Elizabeth Berg. Watching Rebecca DeMornay (proving to be a great actress in this one) in this movie version lived up to the greatness of the book. Melanie Mayron (Melissa from the television show Thirtysomething) is her friend. This is a fantastic movie of quality. I have a similar incident where a family member is grasping on for life, and this movie (which I have watched a number of times) always helps me in hoping for the impossible to happen, and shows everyone that hoping is not the most foolish thing. Sometimes loving someone and believing in only the positive aspects of life...and what one has (as opposed to what one does not have) are the most rewarding qualities of life. ... Read more