A very cleverly titled film, The Turning Point, it has as we discover two meanings, one literal and the other metaphoric. I must say, I loved this film, one of the best dance based stories I've seen, with some excellent acting and outstanding ballet dancing, and a leading female character who actually could dance ballet beautifully, no need of a body double.....not to mention Baryshnikov who's dancing was stunning to put it mildly. For a dance based film the 'plot' was seemingly quite straight forward until the two leading lady characters finally got around to having it out with each other, it was then we could see how layered their relationship had been. Highly recommend it.

1977 was a banner year for Herbert Ross, two pictures he directed are among Oscar's five BEST PICTURE nominees, one is THE GOODBYE GIRL (1977), with 5 nominations and 1 win for Richard Dreyfuss and another is this one, the balletic drama, THE TURNING POINT, received a whopping 11 nominations but went home empty-handed (a record later shared with Steven Spielberg's THE COLOR PURPLE 1985), and in hindsight, becomes the most overachiever apropos of Oscar nominations. DeeDee (MacLaine) and Emma (Bancroft) go way back when they are ballerinas-and-best-friends, the former jilted her budding career and got married with dancer Wayne (Skerritt) after she was preggy just when she and Emma were both up for the cardinal role in Anna Karenina. Due to DeeDee's dropout, Emma procured the role and has remained as a prima ballerina for the company ever since, meantime DeeDee and Wayne moved to Oklahoma City and run a dance studio, raising their three kids. Years later, when DeeDee's firstborn Emilia (Browne) is old enough to be picked up by the same dance company, do DeeDee and Emma's separated life orbits begin to converge, Emma has been devoted herself entirely to her career, unmarried and childless, what she has achieved is quite something in this feeding-frenzy and extremely ageism line-of-business, but over-the-hill is a word she cannot temporize any longer at that turning point, she confides to DeeDee that her body has compromised even though her spirit is still high on dancing. As for DeeDee, all these years she has been mulling over whether her decision of quitting is the right choice, and one particularly pestering thought that Emma might have intentionally advised her to get married when she was pregnant with Emilia, so that Emma could snatch that role which paved the way of her subsequent ascendance to the top tier, and pathologically wonders whether she was good enough to be picked over Emma if she had stayed. Life doesn't offer us regret pills, and there is no what-ifs in reality, the film at its heart is a benevolent melodrama carrying an earnest women-skewing agenda: the family-or-career option, one can only choose one and fantasize the other, as most things in our lives, either option has its rewards and disappointment, if you get too possessed with the other option you didn't choose, there will only be torment and frustration, that is what differentiates DeeDee and Emma and grants the latter a more laudable characteristic arc, unlike DeeDee's self-inflicted doubt of her unfulfilled dream (which leads her to make several wrong choices in life too), Emma is decisive and not lingers on the past, she exemplifies a liberated woman who is unbridled by conventionality, she knows crystal clear what she wants, and is not incapable of live down the gnawing dissatisfaction, this mirrored dichotomy - both live the life the other has forsaken, is superbly deployed as a conceit to draw out stellar performances from Ms. Bancroft and Ms. MacLaine, who can ginger up mediocre fodder into entrancing emotional powerhouse, culminating in their unapologetically campy cat- fight, it is those moments remind us why we are so hopelessly in love with melodramas, because watching thespians go gung-ho like that induces endogenous thrill and pleasure in spite of what drives them are usually tales of woes. Both ladies are Oscar-nominated, but it is Bancroft who gets the upper hand with a more interesting character and she radiates with undivided warmth and empathy (also, she knows how to fake hiccups.), but she has her feet of clay, notwithstanding that she is strikingly emaciated, her comportment and posture is not convincing as a real seasoned dancer. (The film cunningly bypasses any real terpsichorean arrangement for her aside from several default exercise scenes.)On the downside, the subplot surrounding Emilia's ill-fated romance with the dancer-cum-playboy Yuri (Baryshnikov) lacks any traction apart from the fact that both are excellent dancing pros, a feat so magnificently beguiling that it spawned two coattail Oscar nominations for both first-timers, a stark case indicates that Oscar is often less perspicacious than we think it is, another horrendous one is Jennifer Hudson in Bill Condon's DREAMGIRLS (2006), a terrific singer but very broad-stroke acting bent through and through, and she won! Both Tom Skerritt and Martha Scott (as the money- seeking head of the company) bring out meatier presences and are far worthier picks if the Academy was really bent on giving some subservient nominations. For my personal taste, THE TURNING POINT can be easily ensconced in my guilty pleasure list, but deemed with a more critical eye, it still can be worshiped as an eloquent character drama unsparingly allows its players to shine over the unostentatious cinematic techniques, and a synesthetic feast for ballet aficionados.

I somewhat enjoyed this movie at the time, mainly because of its ballet theme, and it certainly boasts beautiful dance sequences with real life ballerinas, Leslie Browne and Mikhail Baryshnikov. However, the characters are pretty stereotypical and it's all basically middle aged naval gazing as to what life might have been and the road not taken.The story revolves around two women who have chosen disparate life paths, both revolving around ballet. Deedee left the dance company years ago to marry a fellow dancer & raise a family, but now runs a ballet school in Oklahoma. Emma remained with the company and became a prima ballerina, but at the expense of any family life, and her dance career is now waning. Deedee's daughter, Emilia, is also a ballerina. When Emma takes her on as sort of a protégé and tries to advance her position within the dance company, Deedee feels resentful.The cast here is certainly competent. Shirley MacLaine (Deedee) and Anne Bancroft (Emma) are both convincing as the two very different women. Tom Skerritt plays Deedee's husband, Wayne, though I prefer his interaction with Shirley MacLaine in their later movie, Steel Magnolias. The young ballerinas, Browne (Emilia) and Baryshnikov (Yuri)...well, their main function is to dance. Their romance proved of no interest to me whatsoever. I found Emilia's drunken scene silly, and noted another's comment that in a real life dance company, she'd be severely reprimanded for this.This movie has some pretty stereotypical jealousies, looking longingly at the life you don't have and wondering if you made the wrong choices way back when. Years earlier, Deedee & Emma were competing for a lead role in their dance company when Deedee became pregnant & married, leaving Emma with the role and a successful dance career. Now they are both looking back, Deedee jealous of Emma's star career and Emma envying Deedee's family (husband & three children) while she has only her dogs for company. All these feelings are brought to the forefront as they watch the young Emilia at the beginning of her dance career and also romantically involved with Yuri. These doubts and regrets are not uncommon in middle age, but the old career versus marriage & family theme just isn't very original.Also, I found the cat fight near the end between the two women, Emma & Deedee, absurd and merely succumbing to the ridiculous popularity of cat fighting among cinema audiences. This did not add class to this movie (which, frankly, might have been classier) or any stars to my rating.On the whole, it's a forgettable film. The entire glimpse into the world of ballet elicited some interest and the dancing is magnificent. Otherwise, famous cast or not, it's not really a movie worth bothering with unless you're madly keen on ballet. As another reviewer commented, it isn't very involving and there's really no one to cheer for.

Winner Best Picture and Director Golden Globe and 11 Academy Award nominations is a tip. From a real-life story of primary star Leslie Browne (longtime of the ABT) the film follows Emilia's adoption into the company of ballet stars from a family of dancers who retired to have her. Shirley Maclaine's Best movie. Anne Bancroft is unbelievable as a ballet dancer not ready to give up the limelight but ready to steal her friend's thunder as the enabler of a great ballet career for Emilia. This a great movie. Watch for some great choreography by all the big names, plus the great plus Alvin Ailey, and a shop window of ballet greats. Baryshnikov in his prime, Martins and Merrill on the side, Great editing, cinematography, the whole shebang.