“It had been _years_ since I last saw this movie. At least a decade, possibly two. As I was watching it, the scenes were so fresh in my mind like they were when third grade Dawn used to watch this over and over.
Wait, what? Over and over? But it’s basically a romcom. Nope. To the girl who could not get enough of the figure skating competitions at the Olympics, this was a sports movie. Mighty Ducks with figure skating. I never saw it as anything else. I was into the sport in the days of the Kerrigan/Hardy thing, and I still remember that Oksana Baiul was the one to win the gold that year. Living in south Texas, ice was a foreign concept, likewise were ice sports. I think that explains part of the Mighty Ducks obsession (I don’t even know how many times I saw D2).
For those of you who aren’t children of the 90s, or have some other excuse for not knowing this film, it’s about an unlikely figure skating pair. Doug is a hockey player who is permanently sidelined by an eye injury. Kate is an ice princess who can’t play nice enough to keep a partner. They’re brought together by a wise old Russian (I think) coach who sees the potential in this unconventional arrangement, if only they could get along.
Just from reading that one paragraph, you probably know they (obvious spoiler) end up together. Yes that one detail annoyed me when I watched it back in the day, but it was a small detail to me. Sure, you can watch it now and see all the signs leading up to that, but third grade Dawn did not see that. Third grade Dawn saw underdogs fighting an unlikely battle to win (again, see also Mighty Ducks). Third grade Dawn only cared about whether or not they could master the Pamchenko.
Watching it as adult (?!) Dawn, sure, now I see how superficial it is, but that still doesn’t matter to me. I think my biggest problem this time around was that I could not believe why Kate would have so many admirers. She is not a nice person, and has few redeeming qualities to offer. Also, it bothered me how much DB Sweeney (Doug) reminded me of Batfleck. My brain often refused to believe he wasn’t. Oh and for my fellow Losties out there, Terry O’Quinn, aka Locke, plays Kate’s Dad. What hair he has, including the ‘stache, is jet black. Huh?
This movie has always been one that brings the warm fuzzies, and that’s not likely to change ever. I think I could watch it many more times and still feel the same way. But if you’ve never seen it before? I don’t know that you should start now. It hasn’t really held up very well for new audiences. And with that, I leave you two final words because I couldn’t find anywhere else to sneak it in: Toe pick!”