Un Noël à toute épreuve

I really wanted to like this movie, but the plot seemed to be moving predictably and slowly along with no real surprises and without developing any real chemistry between any of the leads, so I gave up after a little while.

Abigail Klein and Ryan Cooper make for a very watchable show, regardless of the hackneyed "Save the ______ " plot. They are both very attractive. The little daughter was a doll. The star of the show in my eyes, though, was Caroline Portu as Courtney's best friend. She did a great job with comedy and general appeal. Although next time, find her a more age appropriate boyfriend, who looked like he was about 18 and could have passed for 15.

The story was totally all the usual stuff for the Lifetime/Hallmark Christmas movies. Save the _____ (Oval). Buy a tree as a "family". Christmas cookies. Ice skating.

The movie gets a lift from the optimistic and energetic performance of Abigail Klein. I'd like to say that there was great chemistry between Klein and Ryan Cooper and I think there was potential, but so much screen time on saving the rink diluted the relationship of the leads.

I would have liked to see more time on the relationships and less on the politics of saving the oval.

And as typical with a appealing child in the mix, some of the chemistry was between Klein and Meara Mahoney-Gross who plays Grace. (Interestingly Mahoney-Gross appears to do her own skating, but in the performance with the other skaters you can see that she isn't as smooth as the others who all probably are or have been competitive skaters. Still, a lot of adult stars need either body doubles, green screens, or platforms below the camera level to move them along on ice.)

There are a lot of songs which are also very upbeat. I find it odd that in movie after movie there are people that complain they can't hear dialogue as a result of the music being too loud. I've never had that problem, but it seems to be a real one for a number of people. There are certainly times in this movie when the background music is noticeably loud, but as I said, not so much as to be a problem on my TV. The songs with lyrics are meant to be heard.

The inevitable conflict in the romance is both a bit unusual and perhaps leads to a little overreaction on Courtney's part. Not to say that some reaction on her part isn't warranted, but she's unwilling to hear the other side which is never good with some one you care about. I hate the expression "He always has a choice." While technically true, in the real world, it is often essentially untrue in practice.

You know the photo in the office is going to lead to something significant, but I didn't see what it was coming. Did you? That thread presents some interesting developments.

Story the same. Love found. Had some twists and turns. It was watchable - unlike some Lifetime Christmas movies. Leads had good chemistry.

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD ... please lose all the love songs! One per movie is plenty. This one must gave gad 5-6 of them. So totally not necessary.

Actually I must admit that when I sat down to watch the 2020 Christmas movie "Christmas on Ice" from writer and director John Stimpson, I believed it to be yet another archetypical sappy Christmas movie that comes a dime a dozen.

But still, as it was a movie that I hadn't already seen, of course I opted to give the movie a chance.

And now having seen it, I have to say that "Christmas on Ice" was actually a little bit more than just your typical sappy romantic Christmas cheese. Sure, the movie had that aspect to it as well, but the whole aspect of the daughter and making it her best Christmas was actually quite nice.

The acting performances in "Christmas on Ice" were good. I can't claim to be familiar with the people on the cast list, but lead actress Abigail Klein and lead actor Ryan Cooper actually carried the movie quite well with their performances, and definitely had a great on-screen chemistry.

"Christmas on Ice" gives the audience a bit more than your archetypical Christmas cheese that you are served in an abundance by the Christmas movies. So it is actually well-worth taking the time to sit down and watch this 2020 Christmas movie.

My rating of "Christmas on Ice" lands on a six out of ten stars.