When Will Becomes Metal

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A young man's only chance at saving his family and his future is to win a cross country dog sled race in 1994's Iron Will. It's kind of Jack London nerfed to shaving foam but it is a fairly enjoyable, family friendly flick.

After Will (Mackenzie Astin) sees his father perish after falling through thin ice, his mother gives him the hard truth that they're going to have to sell their beloved huskies to get by. Then Will gets ahold of an ad for the big race with a big prize.

The cinematography is really bland. Snowy landscapes can look pretty dull at midday. There are a couple pretty standard sunset shots but mostly the look of the film gives it a made-for-TV sense of scale. Kevin Spacey is effective in a small role as a newspaper reporter who turns Will's story into something that inspires the nation. There's some really thinly contrived drama in which Will suddenly becomes angry with Spacey's character for no apparent reason, this setup being there just so Will can feel sorry later when Spacey's character turns out to be a true friend. Maybe something was cut.

Iron Will is available on Disney+.