Winter's Dream (2018 TV Movie) User Reviews

Refreshingly not too cute and perky

[phd_travel · 6/10 · 30 January 2018]

A former competitive skier who now runs a shop coaches a young girl who comes for a short while. Her widower father is the romantic interest. The good thing about this show is that the lead actors are quite alright. Kristy Swanson is looking better again and she doesn't play it cute. Dean Cain looks a bit puffy. Some Hallmark movies are annoyingly cute and perky. This one is more down to earth. Another good thing is it doesn't look like it was all filmed on a sound stage like some other Hallmark movies.

Worth one watch

Buffy and Superman can ski.

[LeoMarvin88 · 6/10 · 19 October 2018]

Honestly, for a non-peak season winter movie, it's pretty enjoyable. Most of the non-Christmas movies on Hallmark have a tendency to be kinda stale, but this one still have some magic left. I think this movie suffered from being released after the October to New Years binge. By January, your wholesome meter is filled and you just can't take it anymore.

Don't get me wrong, I don't love Dean Cain at all, but if you pretend he's someone else, it's fine.

My favorite aspect of the movie really was the layer plot lines. I appreciate that Hallmark is trusting the audience to handle more than one story happening. This one had the former teammates verses each other, the love story between Buffy and Superman, and the father and daughter making time for each other. I also love skiing and hot cocoa so that's a bonus here.

I'd be happy to watch this again next year and the next year and the next year, then maybe skip and year or two and come back after that for infinity.

fine Hallmark movie

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 10 June 2021]

Busy widower dad Ty Decker (Dean Cain) has brought her daughter Anna (Lizzie Boys) to train with world famous champion skier Maddy Morrison. Kat Miller (Kristy Swanson) is a former teammate of Maddy who failed at the Olympic trials. Kat is now a local instructor on the bunny hills and working at her father's shop. Their small resort is under pressure from the big rival corporate resort.

This is a fine Hallmark movie. It's really only missing a Christmas theme and they would have checked the whole list. I mostly wanted to see this for Laura Bertram. Cain and Swanson have the pedigree as former stars of sorts. They have a functional chemistry. There is also the rival girl and the rival resort. It's a low level rivalry. It's all a bit low level which is fine for this type of movie. It's the bunny slope of movies and that's fine.

Hallmark is great, but this movie is terrible due to BAD ACTING!

[lizliu · 1/10 · 1 February 2018]

While the premise of the Heart of the Mountain's story line seemed promising, the acting of Kristy Swanson and Dean Cain were terrible. They tried way too hard to be "sweet". It (unfortunately) came off as blatantly fake and unlikable... and after 20 minutes, it became dreadfully unwatchable. Hallmark - please don't use these actors again.

Another fun family Hallmark movie

[fairhaven · 10/10 · 13 January 2019]

I love Dean and Kristy, and it was a treat seeing them together.This is a really good family movie, beautiful scenes, and good storyline. I enjoyed it, thank you Hallmark for another movie to add to my collection.

Goofy Dean Cain!!! Couldn't even finish it.

[smithduke · 5/10 · 31 January 2018]

Sorry, but I got to the point where Dean Cain was coming down the slopes, acting like a total idiot, and that's when I turned it off. I could tell right at that moment that this was not a good Hallmark movie. I've seen hundred of them btw and for the most part, I loved them. Not this one.

A new kind of romance..MUST SEE

[ronbokirk · 10/10 · 18 February 2018]

Hallmark has come up with a wonderful new formula for romance movies. There is no ex boyfriend or "jerk" boyfriend to deal with, and There is no villain. There are two people who meet, develop a friendship, and slowly begin to have feelings for each other. It was perfect.

The only flaw in the movie was Dean Caine being such a klutz at the beginning. That was probably intended for humor but it failed to be amusing, and was detrimental to the story. All the acting was superb and made each character believable. Outdoor scenes were beautiful and had real snow.

I have over 380 Hallmark type romance movies in my collection and this one is in the top 10. I have watched this movie 5 times. My rating 9.5

Spectacularly awful!

[blownwideopen · 2/10 · 6 January 2019]

Dean Cain is ridiculously bad. Wow! That's all I will say about it.

Is it illegal to not smile in this movie?

[david-thor · 2 June 2018]

First, Dean Cain and Kristy Swanson were unrecognizable based on movies I've seen them do just a few years ago, especially Kristy, her face looks like someone else's, not artificial but I didn't know she was in the movie until I read it here. Cain must have been under orders to smile, no matter what. Overall, not much happens and it is quickly forgotten. I like all the actors, so I assume it was just dumb material they had to deal with.

Ruined by an Unrealistically Goofy Lead Character

[EPMD57 · 4/10 · 6 January 2019]

Dean Cain's character is so goofy in this movie that it becomes a turn off. The character just doesn't work because you end up not wanting him and his silly smile in any scenes. His romantic counterpoint is a lot more human and relatable, but her interest in him feels unrealistic. Let's just say that in a real world scenario, he would be texting her a million emojis before their first date, and she would be using terms like "creepy" to describe him to her friends after blocking him.

One nice thing about this movie is that they have actual snow, actual winter clothes, and actual winter weather. I am used to Hallmark filming winter scenes where the characters are just lounging around outdoors as if it's summer time. So that bit of realism here was a refreshing change.

It could have worked with a more sensible lead character pairing, but this never felt right.

Fun Ski Film

[lakebotany-32808 · 9/10 · 19 January 2020]

If you enjoy movies set on the slopes, then this movie is for you. Not a sappy romance, the emphasis is on training young daughter to have confidence in her abilities. This movie has a couple of my favourites, great skiing sequences + fireworks at the end.

Winter's Dream

[studioAT · 5/10 · 1 February 2022]

Dean Cain might overdo it slightly on the "aw shucks, I'm a goofy single Dad" routine and gets slightly held up by a more assured performance by Kirsty Swanson, but on the whole this is a decent, fairly by the book Hallmark film.

Good enough.

Wonderful fun family movie.

[rick-16339 · 10/10 · 13 January 2019]

Excellent movie!! Ignore the bad reviews. Make some popcorn and enjoy a fun movie for everyone.

Watch if you love skiing.

[lydiajp · 5/10 · 15 January 2019]

I didn't get to see the very beginning and I had a feeling it wasn't going to be that good because I was not attracted to the goofiness of the lead man. I kept thinking that the woman character didn't like him either. It was hard to buy that she liked him even at the end. It was an OK movie but really can't recommend it. One thing that bothers me is unrealistic things like the generator could not produce that much electricity for all that they used and the sparklers in the barn on the dance floor. Just weird. I know there's a lot of unrealistic events in these movies but it bothered me for some reason. The skiing and the couple of lines that the girl said regarding the family tree was the my favorite part of the movie.

The Superman from "Lois and Clark" meets the original Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

[Carycomic · 10/10 · 13 February 2018]

Fear not, though! In this Hallmark TV-movie, they play strictly down-to-Earth characters. She plays an ex-Olympic skiier who had an emotionally debilitating agony-of-defeat moment. He plays a widower ad exec who means well, yet has more willingness than ability, when it comes to coaching his daughter and only child, the skiing prodigy. So, they strike a bargain. She provides sound professional advice for the daughter. And, in return, he provides sound professional advice on how to out-publicize the big rival ski resort that's hosting a competing winter sports gala.

I know; I know. Sounds like one of dozens of other such TV-movies Hallmark has done. Especially for Christmas! But, this one is a little different. For one thing, it sort of bridges the gap between the end of the Xmas movie season and the "Count-down to Valentines' Day." So, there's no over-emphasizing of any major holiday.

More importantly, though, Dean Cain and Kristy Swanson get to show off some of their under-rated character acting. Their abilities at such heretofore stymied discourtesy of made-for-Syfy Channel monster movies! As two regular people, bringing each other out of their respective romantic shells, they refreshingly excel.

Definitely a ten-star dramedy.

A woman resurfaces

[MickyG333 · 8/10 · 4 February 2024]

7.6 stars.

Cain is not bad, Swanson is believable. That was all I was concerned about when I started this film. Will he be able to act normally? Sometimes he gets in the way of his own performances. I haven't seen Swanson in a while, but I was impressed by her ability to convey a very personable and likable character.

'Winter's Dream' is not about a dream per se, unless a young girl's desire to be the best competitor in downhill skiing is the "dream" alluded to. But I don't get the impression that her dream of being a phenom is the theme.

The obvious point of this story is it's about a woman who has given up on her potential. She has not pursued any new goals or attempted to find success in years. She was an Olympic skier years ago, now is helping her father operate a ski shop at a mountain resort. They must overcome many obstacles, as there is another ski resort nearby, threatening to steal all of their business.

Chain's character is of a father who supports his daughter's aspirations to be in the Olympics someday. He does his best to stay out of her way. In the middle of all of this activity, there is a very subtle romance. In the end, this movie is not about romance as much as it's about a woman (Swanson) trying to excel in spite of insecurities and the forgotten confidence of her youth.