Personal Best (1982)
7/10
good relationship and sports movie
9 September 2015
In the 1976 US Olympic trials, Chris Cahill (Mariel Hemingway) chokes under her father's coaching. Tory Skinner (Patrice Donnelly) comes in second coached by Terry Tingloff (Scott Glenn). Chris has a breakdown that night and Tory comforts her. That night, they have a lesbian relationship. Tory convinces Terry to take on Chris.

It's a sensitive portrayal of a lesbian relationship. The massive amount of nudity does raise the question of how exploitive this movie is. Although the camera does leer at the young women, the romance is not some pulp fiction concoction. It's sweet. It's complicated. It feels real. It's also a striped down behind-the-scene look at Olympic athletes. Patrice isn't a pro actor but does quite well. Mariel has the sweet innocent quality. It's a good relationship movie and a good sports movie.
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