Ice Princess

Plot
Casey Carlyle (Michelle Trachtenberg), a very smart and talented science student, plans to pursue a scholarship to Harvard University. For the scholarship, Casey must present a personal summer project about physics. While watching a figure skating competition with her mathematically inclined friend Ann, Casey realizes that her favorite childhood hobby, ice skating, would make a perfect project. She decides to try to improve her own skating by applying physics and what she has discovered from watching other skaters.

She becomes proficient and skips two levels to become a junior skater, following a skating recital. She helps junior skaters Gennifer "Gen" Harwood (Hayden Panettiere), Tiffany Lai (Jocelyn Lai), and Nikki Fletcher (Kirsten Olson) improve their skating by using algorithms generated by her computer. Torn between her Harvard dream and her growing love of skating, Casey has difficulty juggling schoolwork, skating, and a part-time job. Joan Carlyle (Joan Cusack), Casey's mother, attempts to prevent her daughter from skating due to her declining academic performance. Meanwhile, tension arises between Casey's mother and Casey's coach Tina Harwood (Kim Cattrall), a disgraced former skater.

Tina, who manages the rink where Casey trains, has Gen on a strict training program. During a competition where both Casey and Gen compete, Tina sees that Casey may outrank Gen and sabotages Casey's performance by buying her new skates. Unaware of the danger of unbroken-in skates, Casey's resulting long program is riddled with poor jumps and several falls. Upon being informed of Tina's intent behind her seemingly kind gesture, Casey lashes out at Tina and mistakenly assumes her children were equally involved in the plot. Casey ranks fifth in the competition and can only qualify for sectionals if any of the top four back out. As a result of this, Casey loses interest in skating and returns to her studies and goal of attending Harvard.

Upset at sabotage and frustrated by all the restrictions of training, Gen quits. While Casey and Gen reconcile, Casey can now qualify for sectionals since Gen quit. Casey declines the Harvard scholarship competition to devote herself to skating, to her mother's dismay. Casey asks Tina to be her personal coach and help her train for sectionals. Her mother, upset at this change of direction in her life, refuses to watch her skate.

At Sectionals, Casey's mind is not fully focused on the competition, and she falls while attempting a triple salchow jump. To her surprise, she discovers that her mother is in the audience. Inspired, Casey gives a highly rated artistic performance. Sectionals ends with Nikki earning gold and Casey placing silver, both qualifying to go to Nationals and potentially the 2006 Winter Olympics. Gen's brother, Teddy (Trevor Blumas), gives Casey flowers to congratulate her; and they kiss. Later, Joan and Tina bicker about how many college courses Casey should take, Teddy and Casey's budding romance, Casey's sponsors, and Casey's future in figure skating.