Frozen in Love

Hallmark has made clear two things: that Niall Matter can indeed skate on ice and that Rachel Leigh Cook remains as a strong leading lady.

While I was excited to watch this movie, I finished it a little disappointed. I thought the storyline was great -kudos to Rachel who was part of the creation of the story- I mean, there was a bookstore involved! Mary was an extremely relatable character and Adam was different to all the sweet/charming guys Niall Matter plays. However, I read in social media that the chemistry was crazy good. I'm sorry to say I didn't see it that way. They obviously got along great but it was not the same chemistry Rachel has with Brendan Penny of Niall with Erin Krakow. Yet, their job portraying their characters was good.

My favorite part about the movie was definitely the storyline/plot, which was pretty original compared to others, and Rachel's performance. You do want to watch this.

8.2 stars.

I did not expect such an inspiring story to emerge from this film whatsoever. It was a joy and a pleasure to be a part of it. A man, a trouble maker, is taught a lesson not just about second chances, but fourth and fifth ones. A woman's life trajectory of low self-confidence and isolation is reversed and she learns to expand her horizons.

The sheer number of tearful moments is astonishing, because "Frozen in Love" was expected to be a routine Hallmark film. The title is misleading, because it's no indicator of the theme, which is actually about charity and vindication. Forgiveness is at the core of freedom of expression, and the potential for friendship and love.

Now that I've expressed the crux of "Frozen in Love", the second best aspect, and veritably as significant, is the attraction between the leads. Although there is a willful scarcity of romance, the objective was met in that final stroke of passion. You cannot miss the last 5 minutes.

This one gets much better if you can hang in till the second half. The chemistry between the two main characters really comes out. I'm not sure how it will end up, but it's worth waiting for.

"He's so maddening, he just pushes my buttons!"

Two immovable objects set in their ways must work together in a mutually beneficial way to improve both their images.

He's a bad boy hockey player. She's a small local bookstore owner. He's been suspended and her business is way down.

Can they help each other before they kill one another?

Mary and Adam do not get along and their first meeting is nothing short of a disaster.

"You can be the hero that rescues a beloved neighborhood institution. It's like you're Superman and she's your Lois lane."

"It's like you're Henry Higgins to his Eliza Doolittle."

The two end up discussing War of The Worlds on a podcast that ends up being liquid gold...just enough sparks to get everyone's attention.

"Besides it doesn't matter how many times you fall down. It only matters how many times you get back up again."-Adam.

"You get hit in the head, a lot, so can we trust your opinion?"-Mary.

"I don't not like her, she just drives me crazy."-Adam.

This was a fun opposites attract romantic comedy involving books and hockey. It's like a match made in heaven! Niall Matter and Racheal Leigh Cook are fantastic together. This actually really worked and I recommend it to all those romantics out there...especially if you are like me a book loving girl with a hockey playing husband! Enjoy!

I can see reading other reviews that some love the movie, and others where kinda "mehh" about it. I am a single dad and usually watch these movies with my teen daughter. I have also reviewed several other Hallmark Christmas movies since I started getting hooked on them in 2016. Others in their reviews have outlined the plot so I shall not touch on that in my comments and instead focus on our impressions of the movie.

Speaking for both of us, we really enjoyed this movie. We found it more realistic and relatable then many of the other hallmark holiday season themed movies and we thought the chemistry between the leads was great. I have never been a Rachel Cook fan, and even in this movie it took a bit of time to warm up to her, although at the end of the movie I thought she looked very pretty. On the other hand I have always really liked Niall Matter in these types of movies - he fits into the characters they have him portray very well and we thought he hit a home run in this movie. My daughter is reminding me we saw him as the lead in another Hallmark holiday movie last year which we also enjoyed.

There were many occasions during the movie where we laughed, and otherwise we always had a smile on our faces. It was an enjoyable movie. I think most Hallmark fans would be charmed by this movie.

We felt this movie deserved a very good rating. Please note we rate relative to the genre. For a Hallmark movie this was a home run, and so it gets a 9 in that context.