A tap dancer on ice? This underdog sports flick skates where no musical has gone before.
Heartwarming human drama about a former tap dancer who trades in his tap shoes to woo a figure skating instructor. But by a twist of fate, he finds himself coaching a local ice hockey team of hapless youths and leading them to a championship
Acting
Kenji Sakaguchi sells the ridiculous premise with genuine wounded pride.
Direction
Jinnai somehow makes hockey training montages feel fresh in 2007.
Director
Takanori Jinnai
Rosa Kato
Shizuka Yamaguchi
Moro Morooka
Shizuka Yamaguchi's father
Yoshiko Tanaka
Yukie Inotani
Kei Tani
Kunio Imaizumi
Kenji Sakaguchi
Masaya Inotani
Anri Okamoto
Reina Shinohara
Rikiya Kurokawa
Shinichiro Tsurugi
Jiro Sato
Mr Serisawa (teacher)
Hiroshi Tamaki
Mr. Tamaki (teacher)
Natsuki Harada
Takashi Tsukamoto
Patron in restaurant with a Thai dinner date
Yutaka Matsushige
Takuya's father
Naoko Iijima
Keiko Tajima
Susumu Terajima
Night shift security guard at Hospital
Koichi Sato
Golfer at putting range
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released during a Japanese ice hockey popularity surge following the 2006 Turin Olympics, capitalizing on rare winter sports momentum.
Kenji Sakaguchi trained with actual hockey coaches for three months despite having no prior skating experience; his falls in early scenes are largely unscripted.
JP
