Really liked the idea for the story and setting, which at this time was different for Hallmark and their festive efforts. Even if it still sounded formulaic, which is pretty much what one expects from Hallmark anyway. The title was quite cute, refraining too much from being too cheesy like film titles from Hallmark can be in game attempts to be cute and catchy. Have seen Rachel Boston and David Alpay in other things and liked them.
Just like here. While 'Ice Sculpture Christmas' is no classic, of Christmas and overall, it does its job very well and has a lot of charms. Of the Hallmark Christmas films, 'Ice Sculpture Christmas' is one of the better and more refreshing of theirs. The sculpture setting would be used again with them two years later with 'Christmas Festival of Ice', but 'Ice Sculpture Christmas' does the setting much better and is the far better film by quite some way.
'Ice Sculpture Christmas' doesn't succeed in every area. A lot more agreed could have been done with the business conflict subplot and the co-worker character is too cartoonish (a shame too that after the film made a big effort to do things differently to have a character so over the top cliched).
Some of the dialogue could have flowed more naturally and been less corny and some of the music is a little too intrusive (other Hallmark films did this far worse though).
However, 'Ice Sculpture Christmas' looks very nice. The scenery has a real charm to it and it's beautifully photographed. The music generally has a pleasant nostalgia and a lovely Christmassy quality. Boston and Alpay are both strong presences in the lead roles, wholly succeeding in making their characters not just have personality but also likeable ones at that. The supporting cast are well chosen and looked as if they were having fun. The characters, apart from the co-worker, are engaging and worth caring for, also feeling more than typical Hallmark cliches.
Another big selling point here was the chemistry between Boston and Alpay. It was immensely charming and there was nothing lukewarm or disconnected about it, there was no doubt that the two characters cared for each other and the relationship grew at neither a too fast or too slow pace. The direction didn't feel routine and was at ease and in control of the material. The script is light hearted and heart-warming, over-sentimentality being kept at bay. Did appreciate that there were less cliches (i.e. No other halves with unappealing character traits) and that there were attempts to do things differently. The ending is also not too pat, which is a common Hallmark problem but not here.
Overall, well done. 7/10.
