Title: A Puppy for Christmas
Year of Release: 2016
Available On: Hulu on 10/19
Rating: 3 out of 5 Jingle Bells
Gramps: Just pick an ornament and feel where it should go.
That’s my style, Gramps! None of that theme tree bull-hockey. Noelle (Cindy Busby) has wanted a dog since she was five. Finally, she decides the time is right and adopts Buster. Foolishly, she didn’t check with her live-in boyfriend of five years before making such a big decision. Todd (Christopher Russell) was “perfect,” she thought, but he wasn’t wild about her new little dog ruining his fancy apartment. And yeah, I said “his apartment,” because he promptly dumps Noelle. She crashes at her office, where her kooky, adventure-article-writing co-worker Liam (Greyston Holt) finds the duo snuggled beneath her desk. Once he hears about her woes, he insists Noelle come with him up to his grandparents’ house out in the country. They proceed to have a truly wonderful time together, against all odds.
Noelle and Liam’s family really seem to click. And when Liam’s flakey fiance doesn’t show up for Christmas, will some sparks fly? Oooooooh, you know what happens, faithful reader! More importantly: will Gramps lose the tree farm, his last connection to his dead wife, and the place that became home to Liam after his parents died? And where the heck is that “nest egg” that Grams was supposedly squirreling away all those years? WHATEVER WILL HAPPEN? YOU’LL NEVER GUESS.
So this movie is just ok. Decent acting, but you basically know this story before you start. There’s some subplots that seem extraneous and/or a bit of a reach. The sets are good. The costuming is good. Production overall is good. The writing is iffy. The characters are not entirely realistic, but they’re far from the worst in the genre. Solid medium movie.
Christmasterpiece Theater: Holiday Movie Reviews 