The Finnish Line

I loved Benedikt Gröndal as the Finnish cousin and veterinarian Lavi. His comedy and highlights of Finnish holiday traditions was the best part of this Hallmark holiday romance built around a dog sled race.

Kim Matula plays Anya Kivelä, a legacy dog sled racer who has come to Finland to the home of Santa in order to race in the race which was her deceased father's last. And to the reporters' delight she is racing against the same man who beat her father in that infamous race. Along the way Anya meets family members from her father's native Finland and she has supporting her in her corner her best friend and business manager, Elyse.

I absolutely loved seeing the dogs and hearing about the Finnish traditions...but really it was Lavi who I enjoyed the most.

We get a few of these movies each year. Hallmark takes us to a foreign country and lets our American (er, often Canadian) leads learn the culture and traditions of the holidays. Often they require a slog of tasks, failing to bring any joy or life to the treasured past (see The Christmas Quest).

But I'm relieved to see how The Finnish Line took that formula and built a very watchable movie, with drama and believe it or not - a real action sequence!

Our lead is Anya (Kim Matula), a legacy dog sled racer returning to a holiday-themed race in Finland where her late father competed. She's joined by bestie and race support teamster Elyse (Nichole Sakura). Our love interest is Cole (Beau Mirchoff), a journalist and former racer himself, who gives our lead someone to monologue to about her feelings.

I did not exactly buy the love story with Anya and Cole, as it seemed like winning the race and beating jerk-face Monty (Páll Sigþór Pálsson) was more interesting. The B love story with Elyse and Anya's cousin Lavi (Benedikt Gröndal) was much cuter and genuine.

We got to see a few fun Finnish traditions, but it didn't seem to slow down the action (again, see the dreadful The Christmas Quest). The dog sled action was great, although I've seen some dog sled folks before and none of them look like Kim Matula. Pretty well kept for the cold temps and dog hair.

Speaking of our lead. You'll recognize her from the Ghosts of Christmas Always (a rare 9 stars for me, 2022). She was also in Checkin' It Twice (6 stars, 2023), which again brought her to cold places. She's great. Nichole Sakura may seem familiar too, for those who loved Superstore like I did. I'd love to see her get a Hallmark lead role.

Overall, a very watchable movie that tweaks the foreign country angle just enough to make it fresh.

Cast Kudos: Anya's cousin Lavi (Benedikt Gröndal). Let's bring that dude to the states and just let him be himself. Loved that guy.

Measuring Christmas Magic: Was this a Christmas movie . . . Yeah, because we learned about Finnish traditions, but did it feel like Santa delivered presents on Christmas morning? No.

Alternative Movie Titles: The Paws of Christmas; Sledding through Finland; Finnish-ing My Father's Race. To be fair, the original title was absolutely fine.

One of the things that stood out to me in the story was Monty. I really hated him about as much as any Christmas rom/com villain ever. He went out of his way to pick on Anya including dirty tricks on the trail. But isn't it so typical of this kind of story that towards the end he has all kinds of excuses that make him the victim?

The race was a little confusing, but I think I figured it out. Anya talked about being so far behind she had too much time to make up that she would never win. Then when the final leg came, the way the movie showed the start and finish, it obscured that fact. I believe the explanation to how the finish could look close is because the start would have been staggered according to amount of time to make up, but it wasn't shown that way. Monty started first, but it looked like Anya left only shortly after that.

Then there is the climatic drama along the final leg. I'm not even sure what I think about that.

The trouble with rom/coms that center around contests, races, sporting events, etc is that the rom part of the movie gets diminished. I really didn't think Beau Mirchoff and Kim Matula had enough screen time to show much chemistry or explain why Anya and Cole fell in love. I loved Kim Matula last year in the Ghosts of Christmas Always, but I didn't care much for the way Anya got down on herself. Not sure how much that was writing or acting. Probably both.

The viewer gets to see a Finnish town that boasts as the home of Santa Claus and some local culture with it.

I want you to listen and I want you to believe me when I say that this is the best Christmas movie Hallmark has ever released.

This is down to Beau Mirchoff, the male lead.

I can't say I was extremely familiar with Beau's oeuvre before seeing this. But I did look him up prior to watching, just to check how hot he was and whatnot. He was hot. I decided to watch.

Hallmark's men are usually average or just above average looking - attractive enough to entice the lonely midwestern housewives who watch these movies (us!) but not so hot that they're unattainable. That is not the case with Beau. Beau is unequivocally out of our league.

But wait for it. As if that wasn't enough, The Finnish Line contains the longest shirtless scene in any Hallmark Christmas movie (I know because I have watched all of them - don't worry about it).

And what a scene it is. What a chest.

It begins at 41:54 (you're welcome) when we catch Beau and the female lead - don't ask me anything about her, I didn't look at her once - standing by a carved round hole in a frozen lake.

Beau is wearing is brown-ish plaid robe, which he proceeds to peel off before climbing into the freezing water. We get a few good shots of his full body while this is happening (he's tall, broad-shouldered, athletic) and catch first glimpse of his giant furry chest. Then the girl also gets in or whatever and they stay there chatting for about a minute.

But then, when you thought this is over and are getting ready to go back and replay that undressing sequence to make sure it's seared into your mind's eye for a good year at least, Hallmark decides to take it to a new, unprecedented level.

At 42:48 we get...Beau in a sauna.

And there is nothing to obstruct his luscious milk jugs here. No robe, no freezing water, no fast edits, no plot. Just close up, lingering shots of his face and torso, cropped just above the waist, transforming his massive pecs into a central character of the movie, one whose story and pathos we're emphatically invested in, a character worthy of its own sequel.

The scene ends at 44:48 and the audience reaches out for a cigarette.

Will we get that sequel? A Christmas movie about Beau Mirchoff's furry pecs? If Hallmark has any sense, we will. That's a Christmas miracle worth believing in.

This is not only one of my all-time favourite Hallmark Christmas movies, it is one of my all-time favourite Hallmark movies of any theme. In fact, apart from the expected romance, and family love, this was not a 'typical' Hallmark. Many have been distinctive by their excellent direction and/or quality performances, this story has a beautifully written screenplay that is perfectly executed acting. The actors brought brand new character types that were intriguing and unexpected. It's also fun to learn about other cultures and customs, in this case, those of Finland. I guarantee we will be looking forward seeing this movie replayed every year.