Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

After more than 30 years of only reading about this movie, I finally checked this out of my local library. Being writer Robert Towne's directorial debut, he does a fine job here in exploring the world of women runners during the Olympic Trials especially that between a young, inexperienced one who's insecure (Mariel Hemmingway) and that of an older, much confident one (Patrice Donnelly). They develop a sexual relationship as well and the nudity here is not exploitive but natural so I don't think many men's members would be protruding during those scenes or those taking place in a sauna. All I'll now say is this was quite a compellingly good drama so on that note, I highly recommend Personal Best. P.S. I also liked the commentary of Towne and a couple of his players in this film, Scott Glenn and Kenny Moore.

Some of the posts here are very critical of this film, accusing it of being slow and exploitative. But I think it should be taken into account that this is essentially a film about people's relationship to each other, and not about car chases and explosions. I found it to be understated, realistic, and very watchable. Okay, there are a few nude scenes which may appear gratuitous. But as highly trained athletes, I think they would feel pretty secure about their bodies, and the camaraderie between them all which is apparent in the movie, would suggest that none of them would be embarrassed at being undressed together. Mariel is ultra believable as the confused young protagonist, which is not surprising as she said in a documentary that she actually trained like an athlete every day for almost a year, in order to prepare for the role. It's a shame to see how far downhill her acting career has gone since.My one criticism is about Scott Glen, who is his usual wooden self, and not a character at all...He looks the part, but doesn't deliver the goods. But hey, it's such a cool watchable movie, I'll overlook that gripe. It's weird to note that a lot of the sports fashions in the film are now back in style.

I would like to begin by saying that this movie really hits it on the mark for showing the human side of its characters. Its portrayal of love of many forms rings astounding true from the beginning to the end. I would like to add, though, that it does strike me viewing it today as somewhat exploiting its lesbian relationship and the female form in general. I have seen many other films, however, where such scenes were not accompanied by the proper human drama that should be found in such relationships, and that is a far worse crime for a film to make. If you can ignore the occasional lewd seen, this movie has far too much heart for it to be missed.

I saw this film in its first release, then again a few nights ago on cable and it affirmed my first impression that this was one of a scant handful of good sports movies. The shots of San Louis Obispo are evocative, for one thing, giving us not just the apricot sand of the dunes but the whoosh of cars on a distant freeway and the chill of the light fog. Mariel Hemingway, never noted for her acting range, becomes noticeably stronger as the movie progresses. The attractions and tensions within the team are neatly delineated in a naturalistic style by director Towne. What seems bothersome to many commentators is the "exploitation" of females through gratuitous nudity and all the rest of that specious argument. Of course there is female nudity and an abundance of finely toned suntanned flesh, often moving around ballistically in slow motion. It is after all a movie about a team of women athletes. And contrary to popular belief there doesn't seem to be a vas deferens between male and female competitors. And we should consult Leni Riefenstal on how to avoid slow motion. Much of the nudity is locker-room casual. (And there is casual male nudity too.) That which has sexual associations seems appropriate in a story of a love affair between team members and contributes to our understanding of how such an affair could develop.The guy, by the way, is no eleventh-hour hero brought in at the last minute to save the heroine from the catastrophe of lesbianism. He's no dashing Rhett Butler. He's simply another figure, not overly bright, and manipulable. He and the heroine don't ride into the sunset together. The complaints about exploitation seem misdirected. This is a film for adults, a story of love, dedication, and competition, nicely written, directed, photographed, scored, and acted. Zealots in the gay community have an abundance of other targets for their anger. It would have been nice to see more of Patrice Donnely in other films, because she was quite good, especially for an ex-athlete.