Christmas holidays did not promise Emma carefree fun and unrestrained festive mood. As an assistant in the law office, she was overloaded with work, and waiting for the result of the exam for admission to the lawyer position made her nervous to check mail with an almost unbearable and annoying frequency. Plus, the news that the beloved and long-awaited ice sculpture competition, which has a 60-year history and is almost the main event of the Christmas season, for lack of money canceled. That's too much! What about Christmas?! Will it be completely ruined? Nope! Emma decides to necessarily correct this ugliness and try to win back what she loves so much - on the eve of the most magical holiday, when miracles are asked to happen, the heroine decides to collect the necessary amount for the competition to take place. After all, how else to find out what craft she likes - lawyer's field or sculptures made of ice.
According to its long tradition, during the festive season, Hallmark releases a dozen Christmas films in which an incredible abundance of sparklingly fascinating scenery and a snowball that falls perfectly under the gentle ring of bells will definitely create the necessary mood, and a romantic story with comedic or even dramatic splashes will entertain the viewer. In the case of the film “Christmas Ice Festival”, the holiday really becomes only a background, and the story of the choice concerning not only personal but also professional life comes to the fore, which determines, if not everything, then very much. Therefore, without being distracted by pleasant Christmas melodies, under which winter landscapes are replaced, seasoned with festive decorations, you begin to unwittingly closely follow the history itself. I don’t think she was beaten in the best way. Despite the small timekeeping, events are not developing as dynamically as you expect, and the heroes can be accused of excessive chatter and unnaturalness. Everything would be fine if the selected actors were sympathetic, and the love they played really felt at least a fraction of that notorious chemistry. But neither the first nor the second was found. However, it is worth noting that the final scene, so heartfelt and warm, slightly smoothed out the unpleasant impressions, paid off, as it seemed, a stupid stay in front of the small screen. And under the curtain came something remotely resembling satisfaction in the cinematic soul.
The story of the Christmas Ice Festival took shape not in the most successful film from Hallmark, which, in general, does not deny its right to exist. And who knows, maybe it is one of their winter cold evenings on the eve of the holiday will warm someone's soul, dreaming of the art of sculptures made of ice.
5 out of 10