Two for the Win

The movie was nice enough to watch but I felt it was a little slow. I enjoyed the ending but early on, I was bored. The two main characters didn't seem to have a lot of chemistry and I could have gone for a little more romance. Trevor Donavan actually grew up skiing and snowboarding and was a member of the U. S. teen ski team. I know he did a lot of skiing in this movie from reading articles on it. Kudos to him! Shame on those who automatically he was using a stunt double. He was fun to watch.

Justin is going home for a championship, it's his "comeback" after an injury which kept him out of the slopes for a year. Kayla, his childhood best friend, is there. She finds herself agreeing to be his coach for this race. I don't know. It was hard at first to get into it, which maybe had to do with Charlotte Sullivan, I kept thinking where I knew her from and then her face: is it make up? is it her face? If so, she could use a little bit of tan. It was so distracting. I haven't seen Trevor Donovan in much movies but I apparently like him. I enjoyed his performance and apparently he can skii? Anyway, these two had a good dynamic, they told us they were childhood friends and I believe it. I was pleasantly surprised at minute 43. I did not see that coming so soon. We always expect the big revelation in the final minutes, not half an hour before the ending, I was caught off guard, so points for that. Fun fact: Around minute 53 we can see a man with a mask standing in the middle of the snow. If you ask me, he was part of the crew. I jut found it funny. To sum up: we have friends-to-lovers combined with sports. It's a good combination, it worked. It didn't make me smile like other movies had, and I kept being distracted but it's not a bad movie. I'm also satisfied with the ending. I thought they might go in the same direction as always (you know which one) but they managed to avoid it. So, good.

Hometown superstar needs a comeback. He teams up with his ex. If you've watched many of these, you can write the story. I will say that when we first see Nancy I wondered where she would come in and I guessed wrong. That was about the biggest twist. Otherwise, there weren't any great highs or lows. The tension was all about people's futures so nothing earthshaking. Trevor Donovan seems to be doing the celebrity-type character for Hallmark and doing it pretty well. We don't see Charlotte Sullivan often in this type movie and she does OK as well. These two connect pretty well. Supporting actors do their jobs without distracting. I liked this movie only because of the leads and they got enough screen time. With less familiar leads this is 5 or 6 stars.

Film viewers who are perturbed by scenes of actors unskillfully pretending to play musical instruments or undertaking athletic activities should feel differently about this film. Justin, the main character, is a world-class skier portrayed by Trevor Donovan who is, in fact, an accomplished skier. Justin is recovering from a serious injury and planning a comeback. He returns to his hometown, where he picks up a new coach and trains for the Winter Classic competition. His parents are thrilled, but it is not clear how Kayla---the young woman he left behind so many years ago to train internationally--feels about it. Kayla is played by Charlotte Sullivan, thankfully. She is able to match Trevor Donovan's charisma and more. The two of them headline a very likable cast that makes this Hallmark romance more notable than most.

It was a nice winter movie, but girl, what was that a bad make up of Charlotte Sullivan. Even her hair, it had even orange bits and pieces in it. I think Hallmark you can do better than that.