Skating to New York

A risky, long distance lake skate is a great idea for a coming of age picture. While the other aspects were cliched, this concept kept it fresh.

They gave us a glimpse of character development before the big adventure, so we could guess at how each boy would handle it, or perhaps be surprised. But the build-up on land was very short. Because we got more of it out on the lake. They got right to the action and let the characters develop further during the adventure.

But since so little time was spent getting to know the town or the parents, I didn't feel the angst of the kids viscerally. It could have been a more edgy working class drama. Instead it was more like a Disney.

The lead boy carried it competently. I liked his authentic reaction to his mom after the skate, and his early reluctance with the girl. Good facial expressions and outbursts.

Like most coming of age stories, we see who is strong, who is weak, and who makes progress. Our lead made progress. We liked him and rooted for him. Meanwhile we were entertained by the adventure.

The basic premise - a coming-of-age story about a group of friends who skate across Lake Ontario - was cool. I really enjoyed the main portion where they skated across the frozen skate, confronting the elements and other dangers. The scenery in those scenes was also gorgeous.

Unfortunately, the movie fails in character development. For example: why exactly do the friends embark on this stunt, skating across Lake Ontario to reach NY? You would hope that there might be some compelling reason, but there isn't. Moreover, I found myself asking about what the characters learned from their stunt: how did their change, grow, or develop. And I'm not too sure. The entire subplot involving one of the boys and his parents was poorly done and uninteresting, as well.

Overall, this movie is solid, but not excellent.