good back-story, and good acting

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Many, many problems with this movie. The lead actress was visibly quite a bit too old for the character she was playing. As someone who worked in the kitchen of an elite country club with a Cordon Bleu trained chef, I can promise you that the portrayal of that environment in this movie was laughable. And the whole ice sculpturing angle was never fleshed out and seemed to be nothing more than a gimmick.But the biggest problem was that there was ZERO chemistry between the two love interests. None. For the first three quarters of the movie I kept waiting and thinking they were going to introduce another man to be her love interest, because she did not seem to have the slightest interest in the guy one way of the other. He seemed to just bore her and frankly I still have no idea how all of a sudden with about 25 minutes left, with nothing leading up to it and for no apparent reason other than the impending end of the movie demanding it, she suddenly decided that she loved him. And when it happened . . . it was totally unconvincing.There are soooooooooo many better Hallmark Christmas movies. In fact . . . every single one that I have ever seen (at least a dozen) are much better than this one. Give this one a pass and try another instead.

This is a slightly above average Hallmance which at least did keep my interest. I liked the ice sculpture theme and the setting in an acclaimed kitchen of a master chef both of which I found educational and interesting. The touch of villainy and rivalry with the sous-chef was balanced by the lack there of with the boyfriend and the wisdom, fairness, and niceness of the head chef. Her romance with our heroine's widowed father added a further touch of piquancy. Rachel Boston is always reliable, though I find her giggle distracting. Her romance with the boy she met briefly in childhood but never forgot was rather dull. Her misunderstanding of his relationship with his work partner was not understandable, so thank-goodness, it was brief. I guess the reason I did not like the romance much was because I did not like the hero. First of all, his lack of height and too handsome face bothered me. I thought his behavior showed a lack of character. He let his partner shoulder all of the responsibility of meeting the very important proposal deadline while he was romancing Rachel. The romance should have waited. She wasn't going anywhere. His stupid arrogant move in entering Rachel in the ice sculpture contest in the first place was just incredibly clueless (and she told him flat out not to and why!). After writing this, Maybe I didn't like it as much as I thought I did!

The movie overall is great. The main difference between this movie and other Hallmark ones is that the plot line isn't blatantly predictable. The chemistry between the two leads is great, and the entire movie was completely realistic. One of my favorite parts of the movie was the relation of the beginning, where the lead characters are shown as kids, to the present day. It really gets the viewer thinking about what would transpire between them, which will come later. It also shows the good side of humanity with the character of David. There is little hostility in the movie among characters, as this is replaced by self vs self conflicts sprinkled around. I would certainly recommend if looking for a fun and slightly romantic Christmas movie to remind us all about the spirit of Christmas.

I fell in love with this Movie the minute I watched it. It just grabbed me in a way that made me feel Love had blossomed from the beginning to the end; so much so, I had to special order it from WalMart. I have watched and purchased a lot of Hallmark Films. With the Christmas Season in the air, they are playing non-stop. A few others I have purchased and I hope you love are: A Boyfriend for Christmas, Snow Bride, A Very Merry Mix-up, A Very Merry Daughter of the Bride, 12 Men of Christmas, The Christmas Shoes, Home by Christmas,Debbie Macomber's: Trading Christmas, and The Holiday.These all may not be Hallmark Movies, but are great Holiday Movies to help you enjoy your Christmas. These are just a few I wish to mention.