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Personal Best
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Personal Best (1982) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
6.3/10   1,045 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 11% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writer:
Robert Towne (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for Personal Best on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
26 May 1983 (Australia) more
Genre:
Plot:
The intertwined lives and loves of three highly-ranked athletes striving for the national team; Chris... more | add synopsis
NewsDesk:
(2 articles)
Birthday Suits: Deserve's Got Nothin' To Do With it
 (From FilmExperience. 22 November 2009, 10:47 AM, PST)

Robert Towne: The Hollywood Interview
 (From The Hollywood Interview. 4 November 2009, 12:49 PM, PST)

User Comments:
The best movie about athletes ever more (22 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Mariel Hemingway ... Chris Cahill

Scott Glenn ... Terry Tingloff
Patrice Donnelly ... Tory Skinner
Kenny Moore ... Denny Stites
Jim Moody ... Roscoe Travis
Kari G. Peyton ... Penny Brill (as Kari Gosswiller)
Jodi Anderson ... Nadia 'Pooch' Anderson
Maren Seidler ... Tanya
Martha Watson ... Sheila
Emily Dole ... Maureen
Pam Spencer ... Jan
Deby Laplante ... Trish
Mitzi McMillin ... Laura
Jan Glotzer ... Karen
Jan Van Reenen ... Yelovitch
more
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Additional Details

Runtime:
124 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Writer and director Robert Towne researched the project by hanging out with many track stars of both genders. The original plan was to show runners training for the 1980 Moscow Olympics. When the U.S. boycotted those games, some lines in the script had to be altered. more
Quotes:
Terry Tingloff: The high jump is a masochists event-it always ends on failure. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Sex at 24 Frames Per Second (2003) (V) more
Soundtrack:
YOU MAKE LOVING FUN more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
10 out of 11 people found the following comment useful.
The best movie about athletes ever, 13 July 2000
8/10
Author: rlcsljo from Hollywood, ca

I believe this movie was the first, and best, movie to treat the relationship between sex and athletic performance in a serious and non stereotypical way. Other films treated athletes as either eunuch/priests whose only concern was their athletic performance, or as over sexed satyrs who required sex as a release and/or distraction from the rigors of training, or sexual relations were gratuitously thrown in as a prerequisite romantic line to draw in a bigger audience.In Personal Best the sexual aspect was actually integral to the plot. We see how sex gets people better opportunities, drives wedges between competitors, and induces self sacrifice--albeit in this case all for naught.I will admit that some of the nude scenes appeared to be gratuitous on the surface, but when you analyze the film you see it was really necessary to show how all those firm toned naked bodies in semi-erotic poses (necessary for maximum athletic performance, I might add) could lead someone down the path to homosexuality.Overall, this movie is a masterpiece of its genre that is interesting, stimulating, and exciting for people of all persuasions.

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