Snow Queen Reviews

European father-son producing team Robert Halmi Sr. and Robert Halmi Jr. have made a cottage industry out of adapting lengthy literary classics like DINOTOPIA (2002), ARABIAN NIGHTS (2000) and JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS (2000) to the small screen, but the shorter fairy tale form appears to have stumped them. In a remote Tyrolean village, hotelier Wolfgang (Robert Wisden) leads a futile search for his missing wife, who's been bewitched by the Snow Queen (Bridget Fonda). Although she usually targets strapping young men, the Snow Queen misses no opportunity to cause heartache. Wolfgang's daughter, Gerda (Chelsea Hobbs), is raised by her abandoned father and grows up emotionally scarred by her mother's unexplained disappearance. Happiness eludes the reserved Gerda until handsome bellboy Kai (Jeremy Gilbaut) lands a job at her father's hotel. Although Wolfgang resents the hard-working lad's interest in his daughter, Gerda slowly lowers her defenses. Then the Snow Queen strikes again: While ice skating, Kai experiences a sharp pain. A snow flake — actually a fragment from the Snow Queen's mirror — lodges in his eye and Kai's personality sours overnight. The irresistible Snow Queen puts in an appearance in the flesh, seduces Kai with a kiss and whisks him away to her castle. Love-struck Gerda disobeys her father and braves the elements to reclaim her beau from the Snow Queen's frosty palace. Along the way, Gerda is distracted by the Snow Queen's sisters, Spring (Jennifer Clement), Summer (Kira Clavell) and Autumn (Suzy Joachim), who try to sabotage the lovelorn girl's quest. Meanwhile, the imprisoned Kai can only gain his freedom by piecing together the Snow Queen's broken mirror; he's guarded by a polar bear smitten with the Snow Queen and has no other means of escape. Gerda must reach Kai before the Snow Queen's icy kiss makes him impervious to human love. It's hard to imagine what Hans Christian Anderson would make of this lavish production, which is too tame for adults and too sappy for kids; its intended audience appears to be teenaged romantics who still read folk tales, a demographic in short supply in the 21st century.