Of the three movies on the Hallmark Channel this Saturday evening of Memorial Day weekend, given its bland description in the TV listings, this is the one I expected to like the least. But despite it's being a formulaic sports film, it was so well-written, -cast, and -executed, that I found it more enjoyable than the movie that preceded it on the schedule, one with more well-known actors.
As the sport in this film is figure skating, one might imagine that in casting, they'd need either skaters who could act or actors who could skate, or both, including one who could handle a hockey stick. In one case, however, they partially double-cast the final competition's underdog by casting an ingénue who could skate well enough for most of the scenes, and hiring a more proficient skater for the more difficult jumps and turns. Whichever the case, all performances here are faultless.
If you like feel-good movies about sports competition, this is one I'd recommend if for no other reason than gets its point and emotion across in a shorter amount of time than most.
As the sport in this film is figure skating, one might imagine that in casting, they'd need either skaters who could act or actors who could skate, or both, including one who could handle a hockey stick. In one case, however, they partially double-cast the final competition's underdog by casting an ingénue who could skate well enough for most of the scenes, and hiring a more proficient skater for the more difficult jumps and turns. Whichever the case, all performances here are faultless.
If you like feel-good movies about sports competition, this is one I'd recommend if for no other reason than gets its point and emotion across in a shorter amount of time than most.