A Dog Named Christmas - DVD

Movie: Slightly mentally retarded Todd (Noel Fisher) lives with his father George (Bruce Greenwood) and mother MaryAnn (Linda Emond) on a farm in Crossing Trails, a small community in Kansas. Even though Todd, at twenty years old, can't drive himself or hold down a real job yet, he stands out for his very special love of animals. When a local animal shelter starts a drive to place animals with families over the Christmas holiday, Todd does everything he can to convince his father to take in a dog for the two weeks. After George agrees on the condition that the dog is brought back after the holidays, Todd decides on a still nameless Labrador, which he christens Christmas. Christmas quickly grows on the young man and the closer the end of the two weeks approaches, the more Todd's hope grows that George might decide to keep Christmas after all. But the father remains firm and so the final goodbye soon seems to come...

A Dog Named Christmas is a nice TV movie that admittedly presents its moral message a little too thickly. The brief Vietnam flashbacks, which are supposed to show why George is so opposed to taking a dog into his home, are an effort, but still seem somehow out of place. Noel Fisher, who was still a sadistic dog killer in the drama Red, gets to make up for that outrage a bit here as a very big animal lover. His acting is a bit overdone here and there, but overall he succeeds quite well in portraying Todd sympathetically and believably.

The dramaturgy is admittedly kept very simple and never moves outside the safety zone for well-behaved family entertainment. This is of course very superficial, but since this is a pure feel-good story, which should work not only, but especially in the Christmas season, the lack of real conflicts or a complex dramaturgy can be forgiven. In the end, the viewer gets exactly what the title and cover suggest. Nothing more, but nothing less.

A Dog Named Christmas is thus well-behaved family entertainment with a high cuteness factor and some effective feel-good moments. Dog lovers who just want to relax with a harmless US family film will be well catered for here.

Picture + Sound:While the warm and vibrant colours are convincing, the picture sharpness is merely on a decent TV level and is also disturbed by slight picture noise at a few moments. The sound does not necessarily impress with an exploitation of the surround channels but remains largely restrained and determined by the powerful, but very front-heavy mixed dialogue.

Extras: As a bonus, there is a very brief look behind the scenes (approx. 2:30 min.), in which the author of the book template comes to speak, a short promotional featurette on holiday animals (approx. 2:30 min.), a promo for the film (approx. 1 min.), as well as the trailer and other programming tips.

Conclusion: A Dog Named Christmas is a nice family film that, while presenting its moral message a bit too thickly and brimming with kitsch and clichés, tells its quintessentially beautiful story with a lot of heart and offers plenty of heartwarming moments for dog lovers in particular. If you're not expecting a particularly high standard, polished dialogue or a cliché-free, original story, you might well have a nice treat with this film

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp