Personal Best

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Personal Best

R,

1982,

2h 4m,

Drama/

LGBTQ+

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Watchlist

Watchlist

74%

34 Reviews

Tomatometer

52%

1,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

74%

Tomatometer

34 Reviews

52%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

Young sprinter Chris Cahill (Mariel Hemingway) is having difficulty reaching her potential as an athlete, until she meets established track star Tory Skinner (Patrice Donnelly). At first the two women form a friendship as Tory and her coach (Scott Glenn) help Chris with her training. Gradually, Tory and Chris start having a sexual relationship and become very close. Their intimacy becomes complicated when Chris' improvement causes them to be competitors for the Olympic team.

Critics Consensus

Mariel Hemingway has a career-making star turn in this highly physical drama about two Olympic athletes who find each other during competitive training.

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Bob Thomas

Associated Press

Oct 22, 2018

The leads are convincingly athletic, the characters well drawn.

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Peter Hartlaub

San Francisco Chronicle

May 30, 2018

2/4

[Robert] Towne's direction can be frustrating - at one point Donnelly and Hemingway run up a sand dune for what seems like five minutes - but the result is 50 percent more realistic than the average sports film.

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Pamela Kessler

Washington Post

May 30, 2018

But "Personal Best" only jogs along sometimes: It suffers from fleshing out.

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Malinda Lo

AfterEllen.com

May 6, 2024

In effect, Personal Best was among the first of a rising tide of gay and lesbian films with relatively positive messages. For the first time, gays and lesbians began to find love in the movies, and... happy endings began to be seen.

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Victoria Brownworth

Philadelphia Gay News

May 26, 2020

It's fun, like any sporting event. And, like some record-breaking sporting events, it's defining, because in it women are seen as strong, vital and magnificent, and the lovers seem not extraordinary because of their homosexual liaison.

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Janet Singleton

Big Mama Rag

May 19, 2020

How this film sees a woman's body is, for American cinema, revolutionary.

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Feb 2, 2019

The best sports movie ever made!

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Robert Towne

Director

Mariel Hemingway

Chris Cahill

Patrice Donnelly

Tory Skinner

Scott Glenn

Terry Tingloff

Kenny Moore

Denny Stites

Jim Moody

Roscoe Travis

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Synopsis

Young sprinter Chris Cahill (Mariel Hemingway) is having difficulty reaching her potential as an athlete, until she meets established track star Tory Skinner (Patrice Donnelly). At first the two women form a friendship as Tory and her coach (Scott Glenn) help Chris with her training. Gradually, Tory and Chris start having a sexual relationship and become very close. Their intimacy becomes complicated when Chris' improvement causes them to be competitors for the Olympic team.

Director: Robert Towne
Producer: Robert Towne
Production Co: The Geffen Company
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, LGBTQ+
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 5, 1982, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 21, 2016
Runtime: 2h 4m

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