''Personal Best'' is a 1982 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

written, produced and directed by

Robert Towne Robert Towne (born Robert Bertram Schwartz;'' Easy Riders, Raging Bulls'' by Peter Biskind page 30, 1999 Bloomsbury edition November 23, 1934) is an American screenwriter, producer, director and actor. He started with writing films for Roger ...

. It stars

Mariel Hemingway Mariel Hadley Hemingway (born November 22, 1961) is an American actress. She began acting at age 14 with a Golden Globe-nominated breakout role in ''Lipstick'' (1976), and she received Academy and BAFTA Award nominations for her performance in W ...

and real-life track star

Patrice Donnelly Patrice Michelle "Pat" Donnelly (born April 30, 1950) is an American retired track and field athlete and actress, known primarily for hurdling. Background Donnelly was born in San Diego, California. She attended Grossmont College. She was a high ...

, along with Scott Glenn as the coach. The film is about the lesbian relationship between two track-and-field teammates whose relationship might interfere with their performance. The film was shot in California and Oregon. Several issues arose during production, including a strike by the

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

, a $110 million lawsuit, and the fact that the film was shot in two states. The film received positive reviews after its release. Both Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert placed ''Personal Best'' on their lists of the ten best films of 1982. It garnered a 73% approval rating at review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

. Despite its popularity with film critics, the film did not succeed at the box office.

Synopsis

Chris Cahill and Tory Skinner are shown as young women who compete in

track-and-field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping event ...

. Chris is upset about her difficulty reaching her potential, while Tory is calm. After Chris faints in a bar, Tory drives her home, and they become friends. Tory consoles Chris, while she stresses. After a while, they have sex and fall in love. Coach Terry Tingloff, who is very upset, says Chris can train on his team, but at first he refuses to teach her. Later, Tory successfully persuades Tingloff to let Chris compete in the trials. The team learns that they will compete for a chance at the 1980 Summer Olympics in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

. Tingloff gets enraged because Tory asks to not finish the last two events in a race. She wants to help Chris, who is sick, but Chris wants to perform. Chris criticizes Tingloff for his treatment of Tory. Tingloff promises Chris a room, board, and tuition for the next year. However, she would have to stay with him during the summer. At first, she accepts the offer, but she changes her mind. The women decide to skip a pentathlon to train at home. Tingloff becomes impressed with Chris's improvement. Chris becomes excited about her higher ranks. During an argument on their way to practice, Tory and Chris almost break up over how much they worry about each other. While practicing a high jump, Chris dislocates her knee. Tory confesses to moving the mark while showing her how to lengthen her approach, in order to lower her center of gravity. This enrages Tingloff. While she is undergoing treatment for her leg, Tingloff apologizes for his anger, and tells her to stay at his house. Tingloff gets enraged because he thinks Tory and Chris's relationship is damaging their performance. He intentionally provokes Chris to get mad, so she can hit him. Tingloff keeps Tory and Chris from appearing on the field at the same time. Chris becomes friends with a professional swimmer named Denny and they start a relationship. At the US Olympic trials, Tory injures her knee, and Chris tells her to keep going if she wants to make the team. Tory, Chris, and another competitor, Pooch Anderson, make the team. However, they will not go to Moscow due to the United States boycott. Tory is happy that Chris is dating Denny. The movie ends with the three teammates on the podium.

Cast

Production

Hemingway trained extensively before the film began shooting. The production was halted in July 1980 because of a strike by the

. Many of the scenes were filmed in

San Luis Obispo County San Luis Obispo County (), officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a county on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 282,424. The county seat is San Luis Obispo. Junípero Serra founded the Miss ...

. While the sign on the track said "Cal Poly", which is a university in San Luis Obispo, it was filmed at the track at

Morro Bay High School Morro Bay High School is a four-year public high school located in the city of Morro Bay along the coast of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Students of the school are typically residents of Morro Bay, Los Osos (to the south), ...

. Two scenes were filmed at restaurants in downtown San Luis Obispo; the Cigar Factory and 1865. Filming also took place in Eugene, Oregon. Locations included

Hayward Field Hayward Field is a track and field stadium in the northwest United States, located on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. It has been the home of the university's track and field teams since 1921, and was the on-campus ho ...

and the Track Town Pizza restaurant. Towne clashed with David Geffen during the production. He later sued Geffen and others for $110 million. Although Michael Chapman is listed as the director of photography,

Reynaldo Villalobos Reynaldo Villalobos II (born November 9, 1940) is an American cinematographer and director, noted for his dark and realistic cinematography. Reynaldo Villalobos is the father of American singer-songwriter Gina Villalobos. Select filmography ...

and

Caleb Deschanel Joseph Caleb Deschanel, (born September 21, 1944) is an American cinematographer and director of film and television. He has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography six times. He is a member of the National Film Preservat ...

did uncredited work.

Reception

Critical response

''Personal Best'' garnered a 73% approval rating at review aggregator

based on 33 reviews. Roger Ebert gave the film four out of a possible four stars and wrote, "This is a very physical movie, one of the healthiest and sweatiest celebrations of physical exertion I can remember... It is filled with the uncertainties, risks, cares, and rewards of real life, and it considers its characters' hearts and minds, and sees their sexuality as an expression of their true feelings for each other". Both Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert placed ''Personal Best'' on their lists of the ten best films of 1982.Siskel and Ebert Top Ten Lists.
Innermind.com. Retrieved April 14, 2020.

Pauline Kael Pauline Kael (; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael's opinions oft ...

wrote that "There has probably never been a growing-up story presented on the screen so freely and uninhibitedly."

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...

of ''The New York Times'' praised the acting of the four leads, but criticized the storyline and the "prettified slow-motion footage."

Box office

''Personal Best'' did well in its initial limited engagement, but ultimately flopped at the box office.

Accolades

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists: * 2008: AFI's 10 Top 10: ** Nominated Sports Film

References

External links

* {{Robert Towne 1982 films American track and field films American LGBT-related films 1982 LGBT-related films Lesbian-related films LGBT-related sports drama films Films shot in Eugene, Oregon Films set in Oregon Films about women's sports The Geffen Film Company films Warner Bros. films Films about the 1980 Summer Olympics Films about Olympic track and field Films directed by Robert Towne Films with screenplays by Robert Towne Films scored by Jack Nitzsche 1982 directorial debut films LGBT-related coming-of-age films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films American sports drama films