The Turning Point

THE TURNING POINT (PG)
D: Herbert Ross
20th Century Fox/Hera (Herbert Ross & Arthur Laurents)
US 1977
119 mins

Drama

W: Arthur Laurents
DP: Robert Surtees
Ed: William Reynolds
Mus: John Lanchberry
PD: Albert Brenner
Cos: Albert Wolsky

Anne Bancroft (Emma Jacklin), Shirley MacLaine (Deedee Rodgers), Mikhail Baryshnikov (Kopelkine), Leslie Browne (Emilia Rodgers), Tom Skerritt (Wayne Rodgers), Martha Scott (Adelaide), Marshall Thompson (Carter)

The Turning Point is a soap opera set around the world of ballet. The American Ballet Theatre tours Oklahoma City, where it's ageing star revisits a former rival, now a housewife, whose daughter is now in the biz.
It's a tough ask for ballet to appeal to a cinema audience as they're two completely different mediums of dramatic expression, but director Herbert Ross does a decent job here, making it worth watching for the performances alone, not just with its two bickering leads Anne Bancroft and Shirley MacLaine, but also for the acting talents of the ballet stars in the picture, particularly Mikhail Baryshnikov and Leslie Browne.
It won't be for everyone.
7/10

The Turning Point
The Turning Point