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Personal Best | 
 enlarge | Director: Robert Towne
Actors: Mariel Hemingway, Scott Glenn, Patrice Donnelly, Kenny Moore, Jim Moody
Studio: Warner
Category: Video
Buy New: CDN$ 36.95
Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 1702
Format: Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: VHS Tape
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 4.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 630026968X
UPC: 085391124238
EAN: 9786300269682
Theatrical Release Date: 1982
Release Date: May 21, 1996
Availability: Usually ships within 1 - 2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: VHS. NEW in shrinkwrap. Same-day shipping by air. Buy with confidence from top-rated US-based Canadian seller.
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| Editorial Reviews:
From Amazon.com
It takes a lot to win. This movie is usually considered a classic of lesbian cinema, and that's too bad: its true sensuality lies in powerful erotic associations with running and the sheer pain of competition. The film opens with a memorable close-up of sweat dripping on tarmac, an early glimpse of a visual style which evolves throughout the picture into almost pornographic slow-motion sequences of high jumps, shot puts, and running legs. The story follows a young runner (Mariel Hemingway) from a clueless start in the 1976 Olympic trials through a vexed affair with her mentor-competitor (Olympic runner Patrice Donnelly) to a final, triumphant qualifying race for the boycotted 1980 Moscow games. The human elements are told in an almost documentary style, giving an honest, complicated look at the blossoming of friendship into love against the near-military backdrop of world-class competitive sports. Hemingway and Donnelly can act, and their drive to win is compelling, both on the field and in their personal lives. But what really makes the film worth watching are the races--stunning images, beautiful editing, and the timeless drama of athletic endeavor. --Grant Balfour
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| Customer Reviews: Read 6 more reviews...
 It's About Expectations January 14, 2008
cybertwerp (London, ON Canada)
I was lucky that I began seeing films when I did. The beginnings were auspicious - "Far from the Madding Crowd", "Butch Cassidy", "If ...." - but, much as I thought all of these were wonderful films, much as all but "If ...." have stayed with me all this time, I never viewed any of them but once until the advent of DVD, and I'd qualify none as "my favourite film". My favourite film is on offer right here, and it was something I saw four times on its first run.
One thing about "Personal Best" that has, I think, inhibited its recognition is the fact that nobody much has really seen it for what it is. Coming out in 1982, a year after "Chariots of Fire" had taken North America by storm (I've never figured that out yet), "Personal Best" was labelled as a track-and-field film. It also was a new sort of shocker, so the Lesbian theme got a lot of play, and, indeed, one reviewer headed his piece "Chariots of Desire". Its resurgence today is what's apparently "cult status" as a Lesbian film, although a cultist in 2008 would probably remark on the absence of raunch.
I spotted in 1982, and saw even more clearly today, that the film has a nice Californian theme - expectations, how we handle other people's expectations, and how we turn them into competitiveness. It's really the story of Chris - how she outgrows her father's expectations, Tingloff's expectations, and even her lover Tory's expectations - to take control of what she really wants for herself, an Olympic pentathlon place. The end (BIT OF A SPOILER) is wonderful in the process, with Chris persuading the injured Tory to forget what's expected of her and go for the victory she too wants for herself.
Towne's great risk, asking as much improvisation as he could of his cast rather than handing them a fully-written screenplay, has worked wonderfully. Scott Glenn, with the most professional experience, has done it best and produced a Tingloff nowhere near the monster the athletes make him out to be; the other professional principal, Mariel Hemingway's still soft and immature Chris, can also imagine good lines (and tearful faces) for herself. But it's an amateur, Patrice Donnelly as the hard-edged and competitive Tory, who turns out to be the best natural actress. And I'll say only one thing about the Lesbian theme; the Donnelly-Hemingway love scenes, react as you will, are moving, MOVING.
Track and field has to play a part. All the girls show an almost choreographed grace, Tingloff is a coach devoted to coaching, and Hemingway's coltish grace is suggestive of her university track background; but, once more, the character to watch is Tory - Donnelly probably moves more beautifully than anyone you've seen, and her visible swallowing of her discomfort, whatever efforts she's making, is a wonderful piece of characterization.
The more you see of "Personal Best", the more you'll see in it; I suggest forgetting the Lesbianism and the track and field - the expectations theme will take you over in its time. So will Patrice Donnelly; and you'll wonder why no awards, not even a future career, awaited her because of her part in this film.
Ironic Movie July 15, 2004
Linda Levi (CA. USA)
I liked the movie when I saw it in the early 80s because of the break through "love" scenes and the sports theme. Right now I'm listening to a late night talk show interview with Mariel Hemmingway! I was drawn to this site because I was looking for some info on Jodi Anderson who acts in the movie. I knew her because she worked out in my gym in the 1980s and also worked there. In reality the sports part could have been based on her. In 1980 when she was 22 she won both the pentathlon and the long jump in the Olympic trials for the boycotted Moscow games. She also represented the USA in the pentathlon in the 1984 LA Olympics but was injured and withdrew. Considering the fame (and money) that USA female track athletes achieved in 1984 and later, the boycott was a tragedy for her and the other athletes most of whom are relatively unknown.
Perfect Chemistry To Produce A Superlative Guy Movie December 23, 2003
J. Reynolds (Houston, TX United States)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This film has EXACTLY the right ingredients for being one of the best Guy Flicks of all time. First, the behind-the-scenes look at athletic training techniques is incomparable. The preparation methods are highly educational, the stretching, the warm-ups, the cool-downs -- actually seeing these activities demonstrated is invaluable for aspiring athletes. Also, the details about various events were intriguing -- setting the blocks for sprinting, determining one's "pace" for high-jumping, the muscular ballet employed for the shot put. Watching Coach Scott Glenn (Urban Cowboy's "Wes Hightower") was inspirational, he obviously knew how to get the most from a team member. And the work-outs themselves were marvelous, the long runs, the hill-climbs, the post-workout massages and other physical therapy, with particular attention to specific body areas -- all of this information is extremely important for any male athlete, and should probably be viewed several times, numerous times, again and again, in order to ensure full comprehension and complete appreciation.
I Love it! January 24, 2003
I can see why this movie is on the list of favorites. It was very moving and showed the extreme emotions that love causes. I would highly recommend it.
 Personal Best? January 5, 2003
Don Schenk (Allentown, PA USA)
0 out of 6 found this review helpful
Let's see: early on in the movie Mariel Hemmingway does a nude scene as a shy 15-year-old being seduced by the 35-year-old lesbian who got her stoned. It's not child pornography only because Ms. Hemmingway wasn't a teenager anymore; but she does look the part in part because she didn't get her implants yet.
Aren't Catholic dioceses being sued because they didn't do enough to prevent the seduction of teenagers by homosexuals? And is AOL/Time-Warner ever going to be sued by someone whose seducer used this movie as a recruiting film?
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