User reviews

This is my 1st Lifetime Christmas movie of the 2020 season. Overall, it was pretty good. I do agree with another reviewer on here: the music was really bad at times/really bad for some scenes. That said, the acting was good. Abigail Klein was great (a lot of Christmas cheer in her performance). The supporting cast was also very good; I particularly like the performance of the daughter and grandfather. The film does a good job too of providing the festive/Christmas atmosphere, which I have grown to like in Hallmark and Lifetime movies. Overall, a good start to the 2020 Christmas movie season by Lifetime.

This is an interesting, uplifting story with a very likeable cast. The female lead comes off sweet but one emotional speed, yet still seems to have chemistry with the adorable little girl and her father. Overall It's a good Christmas movie and worth a watch.

Christmas films can go either way, which has been my experience watching overtime the festive output of Lifetime and Hallmark. They can either be well-meaning, charming, warm-hearted and don't feel too heavy. Or they can be too over-sentimental, cheesy, contrived and bland. There have been many films of theirs that have fallen in both camps and in the camp where there is a bit of both. And 'Christmas on Ice' did have the sort of premise where the execution could have gone either way.

Lifetime's 2020 Christmas film batch, like all their previous years, was pretty hit and miss which was not unexpected when one takes the circumstances into account, though a better standard than 2019's. 'Christmas on Ice' managed to be one of the better ones once it settled fully, despite there being a medium sized gap where there was some uncertainty of whether to continue or not. It also had a more mature theme than most which was appreciated and done quite well.

By all means, 'Christmas on Ice' isn't perfect. It does start on the slow side and the dialogue is a bit cheesy to begin with. Some motivations did feel rushed and didn't really surprise, especially later on.

Felt the same way with the ending, which had a bit of an abrupt, anti-climactic feel too. The music could have been used less and some of the choices didn't seem appropriate.

There are a lot of things done well in 'Christmas on Ice'. Abigail Klein radiates energy and charm and really does brighten the screen, wholly succeeding in making her character fleshed out and likeable. Ryan Cooper is an amiable leading man and their chemistry is sweet and genuine, part of me wishes there was more of the relationship and not as much of the saving the rink plotting. The best supporting turn comes from adorable and heartfelt Meara Mahoney-Gross, whose chemistry with Klein was even better than Klein and Cooper's.

Moreover, a great job is done with the Christmas atmosphere, where it does feel like Christmas and in an affectionate way. Some lovely Christmas touches and there are some very sweet, but not sickly, scenes. Was not crazy about the script early on, but it did have a nice mix of funny and poignant lines once momentum built. The story may be thin and doesn't do an awful lot new with a familiar scenario but has a warm heart and charm and doesn't take itself too seriously. The characters are also ones worth caring for. It looks good as a film, especially the scenery.

Summing up, pleasant way to pass the time. 6/10.

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.

Pretty much your typical good feeling Christmas movie, decent actors and a nice story. Good for all the family

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.

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.

This movie was Romantic and beautiful good movie for everyone

Cute movie in a city with little attention given to it. I love skating. This movie is entertaining!

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.

Sweet movie. Beautiful story, beautiful actors, sweet chremisty between them. Like it. Leading actress is beautiful. She played her role very nice. The little girl is lovely. The Leading man is charming. Very like his voice. They look sweet together. Typical sweet Christmas movie.

Christmas on Ice could have been another boring Christmas movie because the story of the movie is common: saving the seasonal skating rink. Nothing original, a cliché.

However the choices made have allowed the movie to be very pleasant to watch, sometimes touching; all in all, a good Christmas movie, heartwarming, to watch with the family. Why?

First the choice of actors, all the actors, who are in complete harmony: the mayor, the main character's friend, her boyfriend, the little girl and the two main characters are perfect together, and are good actors, a very good choice. Also, the couple have a very good chemistry which makes the story more realistic, interesting, touching.

Then the director's choice to tell the story: in a simple way, without emphasis, with an emphasis on family, the meaning of Christmas, important values.

It is true that the beginning of the movie seemed to take the usual direction of the Christmas movies but the rest, which I will not reveal, is unexpected. The only criticism I will make is about the music: the choice of songs is not very good, too bad!

I advise you to watch this very pleasant, touching, unpretentious Christmas movie if you want to have a good time.

Lifetime has really upped its Christmas game in 2020. Its 2020 offerings far exceed most of its Christmas movies in prior years. I really liked this movie. Christmas on Ice's story followed a familiar pattern but it was done with a more compelling story and excellent acting. The leads, Abigail Klein and Ryan Cooper, were not known to me before but I will surely remember them now. They were perfectly cast and their acting was realistic and well done. What a pleasant surprise that the movie was actually filmed in the city where the story takes place. It added to the movie's believability. My one ever so minor complaint (and this is a chronic issue with me about movies set in New England with characters who are supposed to be from New England) is the pronunciation of the word "aunt". We here in NE do not say "ant"; we say "ahnt". Maybe Noah was raised somewhere else and I missed it. But for future reference directors...

I really liked this film. The scenery and the skating were beautiful and it was nice to hear children laughing. The story was good as was the acting. It was also refreshing to see a movie devoid of crabby women, Christmas hater and sophomoric romance nonsense. It was light-hearted and relaxing. I only wish they could have pronounced the last name Tremblay properly.

Not only was the background music much to loud, to the point of making it hard to understand the dialogue; most of it was awful as well.

For boring budgetary reasons the city is going to close down the skating oval in the downtown core after the holidays.

Coincidentally the mayor's widowed son-in-law, a retired pro hockey player played by soap opera hunk and former Mr. Eye-Candy, Ryan Cooper, has just developed a huge new sports complex at the edge of town. It's good for the suburbs but not so much for kids who live in the city core & take their lessons as well as leisure at the oval.

You can see where this is going, right?

Enter the spunky skating instructor and skate shack worker, Courtney, (Abigail Klein) who quickly makes friends with Mr. Hockey's daughter and convinces her to take up skating classes at the oval. With help from the mayor's secretary, Courtney also starts a PR campaign to win over the mayor & save the oval even though she's falling for Mr. Hockey aka 'the competition'.

The acting's not great, the script is only okay, and the settings - unless you live close enough to recognize downtown Worchester - are Anytown, Northeast USA. It's definitely lacking the visual appeal & polish of our other recent skating movie (Niall Matter. Mmm...). But the movie has some cute scenes of skating kids. Relationships feel believable. And you're left wondering if parts of it were in fact based on a real story.

Good production, good acting, simple story; a better than average Christmas movie.

It seems in more and more of these Christmas movies though that the friends and sidekicks are more interesting and fun characters.

Abigail Klein is incredible in this! My kids loved it, family friendly and a good story for all. Did I mention Abigail Klein? Amazing on screen.

I'd put this up there with the best TV movies about Christmas and it is very funny as well.

I am a reluctant veteran watcher of Lifetime, Hallmark and recently, GAF Christmas movies at around 40 or so of these. I've stopped evaluating the individual storylines ,quality of sets and plot tropes. Even as they change locations and plot specifics, these all introduce our hero lead...most typically a female...and then present our hero-ine with an obstacle to her enjoyment of Christmas. Also, around this same moment, we are introduced to the romantic pairing. Our heroine wrestles with the obstacle for the bulk of the rest of the runtime, with or without assistance from the romantic counterpart. I find the better ones establish a mutual attraction sooner rather than later, and if there is logic to the physical match-up of the actors, the audience can get into it, suffer through the stereotypical romantic conflict at about 10 minutes left and then root for the inevitable closed mouth kiss right before the credits roll.

You know the story from other reviews. What made this watchable for me was that the female/male casting was of equal attractiveness quotient. The male did not have to act inept or wooden or say stupid things in front of the female. The supporting cast added, rather than detracted or distracted, from enjoyment of the movie. That's all I now ask and this movie delivered that.