Ice Angel

Ever heard the critics' expression, "trying to give this movie a bad review is like trying to kick a puppy?" Well, it's most certainly true here. Make no mistakes, this is a bad film - the plot goes far beyond the realms of the improbable whilst somehow fitting in every cliché going as hockey star Matt is killed and reincarnated as a female ice skater.

The first half of the film concentrates on Matt's gender dysphoria as he tries to adapt to life as a girl, which is handled in a light hearted and, dare I say it, funny way. The second half of the film advances the plot as Matt/Sarah tries to make it as a figure skater.

This is mindless, made-for-tv viewing, but as I said at the start of this review, it's got a certain naive charm and a great feel-good factor that makes this a watchable film, although the fact that I was too far gone to change channel probably helped. Though I wanted to, I couldn't find it in myself to actually dislike this movie.

Even though it's spliced throughout with five minute no-dialogue-just-song montages to pad it out, the charm of this movie alone carries it through and above the drudgery of daytime TV. Watch this if you want to while away a bored hour and a half, it's a 'bad' film, but its not a bad film to watch.

I saw this movie on Channel 5 while flicking through to see what was on, and normally, if a program is absolutly terrible I'll get up and leave to do something more productive rather than sit there and suffer.

This film kept me seated though. I found it slightly hilarious and it had a pretty funny plotline which kept me captivated for the length of the film.

A little bit cheesy, yes, but it was entertaining. I gave it a 9 out of ten for a nice afternoon movie that didn't make me cringe with boredom or cheesed off with rubbish jokes.

A nice little film with good acting by Nicholle Tom.

I went into this film expecting pure schlock... and it delivered in that area. From chasing the angel around the table to the "guy walk" all the way through the movie, from the oogie-oogie to the oy-oy (you just have to see the flick to understand) there was no schlock opportunity missed.

But that's okay. Because in addition to that this film presented some very unexpected emotional moments as well as being a good lesson in ethics and figuring out what matters and what doesn't. There were heart-clencher and tear-jerker moments and even once (just once) when they got an actual laugh out of me. That was more than I expected.

Unfortunately, if I'm going to be honest I can only rate it 6 stars. That is admirably above my 5-star "just mediocre" score... which gives it credit for delivering more than expected. But there were three major flaws: 1) corny 2) highly predictable and 3) sloppy no-effort ending. I can forgive the corn and predictability, but not a sloppy ending. It's like the writers and director got lazy and decided to just drop the story in the audiences lap. Without spoilers, the final plot concept has no sensible reason nor any forecasting throughout the film. The director drops it on us like a bomb... and that's how it hits. It is writer and director stupidity at its worst-- sheer laziness. "Okay folks, we hit our 90 minute mark. That's a wrap!"

This was like a Disney after-school movie with a little more heart thrown in and for a more adult audience. If it had a better, more sensible ending I'd have no problem giving it a good, solid 7 stars. But the ending stunk and cost them in this review. Had the rest of the film been less enjoyable it could have cost them a lot more, but I actually enjoyed the film. In the end game, that's about as good as one can say about any kind of entertainment.

Comparing it to Heaven can wait, which was made on a major motion picture's budget, at the pace of a feature film (twice as much time to film as a tv movie) is hardly fair.

This film is quite nice for a low budget film produced for a cable network. The lead actress was good in her role. Her performance was on a par with Ellen Barkin in Switch, as a friend of mine commented.

The pace of the story is good, and the fantasy elements are kept believable by the writing and acting skills. There were some performances that were simplistic, but mostly for secondary performances, not those of the lead characters. The parents did border on being parodies of dumb parents however in a few scenes.

Skating scenes were also believable.

The film may not be an Oscar winner, but it had heart and soul, and relied on more than cliches to tell the story. (Not that there were no cliches!) But it was a good, enjoyable film I would watch again.

I thought this film, though pretty much the same as many other body switching films, was good fun. It was easy to watch, and didn't require any real thought on the viewers part. Nicholle Tom was brilliant in the part of Sarah, and even thought there was no major Hollywood talent to make it a hit, it's worth watching just for the Feel Good factor.