Christmas-Reviewer
BEWARE OF BOGUS REVIEWS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW. WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE PRODUCTION. IF ITS A NEGATIVE REVIEW THEN THEY MIGHT HAVE A GRUDGE AGAINST THAT PRODUCTION. NOW I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 200 Christmas MOVIES. I HAVE NO AGENDA. I AM FARE ABOUT THESE FILMS.After a magical summer together, a nine-year-old boy whispers his heart into the ear of a best friend. With a loyal, golden dog by their side, the boy and girl bury a time capsule of keepsakes then they go their separate ways. Years later, looking for a fresh start, a man and woman each return to the place they felt most at home as a child. But a comedic case of unknown identity has them competing for the same childhood memories, and Christmas escapades ensue. For the sake of their happiness, they must discover their common past before they turn each other s lives completely upside-down. Now this film can in a four pack of Christmas movies and I avoided this one because I thought it was only going to star dogs. Well there is a dog in this and his on screen time is most likely less than 10 minutes. Now as for the film itself I found it highly enjoyable but I have a minor complaint. The main female in this film is really immature on several things and at times that got annoying but Andrea Roth is a fine actress and I loved another Christmas film she did called "Crazy For Christmas" If you are looking for a family safe film then watch this. Small children (under 10) will be bored. If you like romantic films then this film is perfect for you to watch anytime if the year. This film takes place at "Christmas Time" however its hardly a "Christmas Movie".
bwestbroker
As several have already mentioned..the dogs have little to nothing to do with this movie and the lead actress is a person I had absolutely no ability to "find" an affinity to.The two lead characters were completely mismatched for this movie since she ALWAYS seems to have a "edge" and the male lead was just a nice,simply guy. SPOILER ALERT!!!!! The other thing that confounded me was having the dog be pregnant.and yet NO ONE ever noticed?Then this dog gives birth..out in the woods...supposedly in the snow..and the two "leads" look up and SMILE instead of packing her up and taking her home??THEN we have the stupidest ending EVER...the "dog"...who has given birth to pups...simply goes outside and they WATCH her run off into the sunset??? WHO the FLOCK comes up with such inane,unconnected movies and tries to pass them off as "family" movies??
deacon_blues-3
This is a very nice, entertaining holiday film from beginning to end. The acting is good, the plot is engaging. I highly recommend it for adults and children 12+. The only downer is that the cover is very misleading. This is not a children's movie about puppies, it's a romantic holiday drama. I think it was disingenuous of the distributors of this film to package it as a puppy movie for little kids. Cutthroat marketing knows no shame, so be warned! If you want to see a heartwarming romantic drama about the holiday season, this is a great film! But it's not a puppy movie that the toddlers will squeal and giggle at for an hour+. Small kids will be bored to distraction, and there may be a rebellion of suppressed energy during such a film.
HallmarkMovieBuff
These comments will not summarize the plot; the reader will have to look elsewhere for that. This is more a meta-comment about aspects of the production.This is the best holiday movie I've seen this year...and the second wherein a wandering golden retriever was cast as the catalyst for precipitating a happy ending. As today is given as the release date, the airing I just viewed on the ION channel must have been the premiere. Consequently, these comments might not be fully appreciated until somebody fills in the plot or synopsis.I just want to say that special kudos should go to the casting director, Ricki Maslar. Every part was "perfectly" cast...the leads were ideal for their parts, the kids were cute (although their characters seemed a bit mature for their age, in the way they "advised" their respective parents about their love lives), and everyone playing a supporting role couldn't have been better.But I want to mention two parts, in particular. It was so good to see Bruce Davison, as the family patriarch, in a sympathetic role (for once), that I wish his part could have been bigger. And Elisa Donovan as Anna, who pokes and prods and needles and knocks her big sister Jessica (Andrea Roth) toward romance is absolutely, positively delightful! The tone and tenor of the production was uniformly appropriate throughout, *except* I didn't care much for the vocal backgrounds in the soundtrack during certain characters' pensive moments. I would have much preferred simple instrumentals.