Alle lieben Jake

Candace is one of my favorite actresses from Hallmark and she did an absolutely amazing job with this movie. Very heartwarming and sweet!! Thank you Candace for being such a wonderful person!!

I enjoy this movie but it's so unrealistic that Ben doesn't always recognise his own beloved dog/bark. However I like that the characters try to consider everyone's situations.

As a starting point, we get the veteran of Hallmark, Candace Cameron Bure, who is, characteristically at times, overly high strung. Then we get Victor Webster who is awllllll man (and so much of it!) and who doesn't love that cutie pooch! Awwww Jake is adorable.

So we have a great playing field (pardon the pun) but then ... omg ... this show sent chills down my spine in a very UN-Hallmark way!

The way the two leads fought over the dog. If you have ever been acrimoniously divorced with a battle over child custody, you will most likely have complete sense of humour failure during this show.

The 'parents' openly yell at each other over the 'custody' (yes, of the dog). They pit the dog against each other by teaching the dog to act out whilst in the other person's custody and the tussle leads to heartbreaking scenes of goodbyes with the dog over and over again.

If these scenes were meant to be funny, then the scriptwriter needs to grow a heart.

Single mom (Candace Cameron Bure) gets her lonely daughter (Katie L. Hawkins) a shelter dog. The little girl and the pooch become fast friends. But -- uh oh -- turns out the dog already has an owner (Victor Webster). He shows up wanting his dog back. Of course he can't bring himself to tear the dog away from the little girl, so he agrees to "share custody" with her. Gradually he and the pretty mom get close and, wouldn't you know it, fall in love.

Candace Cameron Bure, the reigning queen of made-for-TV movies, is likable and lovely as ever in this (despite an unfortunate haircut). Her chemistry with costar Victor Webster is nice. For his part, Webster is charming and handsome. All too often these made-for-TV flicks fail because the male lead is dull as ditchwater. Katie L. Hawkins is adorable and easy to sympathize with. I see no credit on IMDb listing his real name but the dog did a great job. Hallmark movies don't strain your brain but that's what we love about them. This is a simple love story with a little drama that you know ahead of time will be very predictable. But movies like this are for people who like happy endings and don't want to take chances on whatever messed-up stuff Hollywood calls romance these days.

Yes the dog was the star of the movie, or at least the best part. The kid wasn't bad either.

Actually the leads were OK too with a couple of exceptions. The animosity went on a little too long and Ben's meanness with the shoes was uncalled for and out of place. Then as happens way too often in these movies, characters do a reversal of feelings almost instantly with very little explanation for the change. The ending was generally what you'd expect but there wasn't enough relationship established to justify it. But that's what you get in a TV movie especially when time is spent on other characters like the dog and Caitlin.

There's really no big highs or lows and the only real problem or conflict popped up out of nowhere and was quickly resolved.