Happy Howlidays

The storyline was cute. The dogs were cute. The male lead was not cute or compelling. While print model, Ezra Moreland's performance had flickers of authenticity, it was for the most part wooden & superficial. If he went to acting class and got some real training maybe it would help. That said, this was his first acting attempt, so he probably was anxious about his performance, but right now, he seems to be "modeling" through the role & not finding his character. Like several others, I was surprised when Ezra was given (yes, given) the Hallmark "Mr. Christmas" title over the more talented and charismatic, Hayden, who was always the stand-out; the one your eye was drawn to in every ensemble//group shot and every acting scene. Hopefully, Hallmark will rectify their original decision & sign Hayden to a contract, too.

Followed Finding Mr Christmas through it all, we were confused with much of it in terms of the challenges. We loved the support of four female actors/directors who shone in their help in this process and the oh so cute Jonathan and Melissa were great of course, but one thing I found curious was why they were never put up opposite a guy (they fudn't know), as there are many roles opposite a brother/best friend/potential competitor etc. The loss of Daxton to eye damage was sad as I felt he was our clear choice early on, and we do hope they bring him back in future competitions. We stuck with it, and sadly Ezra was our last choice to win the competition.

We looked forward to Ezra's debut in his first movie, and then heard he had two big challenges to his first show...#1 working with beautiful dogs, who were incredible actors and stole the show - FULL STOP, and Ezra was paied with Jessica Lowndes. I understand she is a good singer/composer, and liked her song in this movie, but I am not a fan of her acting, and certainly not in this movies. I have seen her in quite a few of her movies and not one did i enjoy. So having Ezra come out of the blocks working with dogs and Jessica felt like a double whammy and quite unfair to him. The movie's story was uninspiring and obvious to the outcome. The dogs were just charming to watch and we both would have watched another five or six movies with them.

Ezra is an extremely handsome model with an incredible, great build, but that doesn't translate to a 3-d performance...emotions and heart just aren't there on screen, which we saw lots of with the other two.. So if they do decide to make another with him, please gjve him a decent opportunity with an experienced actor (any of the four from this competition would be great) and with no or minimal animals.

The acting in this film was truly dreadful. Both main actors delivered wooden and one-dimensional performances. Their lack of chemistry was palpable.

Ezra's portrayal of the pet adoption agency manager was particularly jarring. His rude and condescending behavior was completely unrealistic and off-putting. He displayed a complete lack of empathy for customers and seemed utterly devoid of any warmth or personality.

Jessica's performance was equally unconvincing. Her lines were delivered without any emotion or connection to the other actors.

Her lack of common sense was astounding. It was baffling that she couldn't understand the basic needs of her dog and repeatedly stepped in dog urine every morning.

Ezra's appearance in this film was a significant departure from his look in 'Finding Mr. Christmas.' Lose the beard Ezra!

The writer and the director didn't do this film any favors.

This is another Hallmark movie where the writers went all over the place with their various story tropes.

Did they want a funny dog movie? Well, they started out that way and then abandoned that idea.

Did they want an old girlfriend shows up to threaten the romance? They did that too, but killed any tension from it immediately.

Did they want a tense story about a broken person? Well, the female lead was a doctor who lost a patient and ran from the profession, but that's really only important for the scene where she admits that.

Did they want a heart wrenching dog story? They hinted at that then never got there.

The male lead is fairly wooden, except for a couple of scenes where he suddenly goes from wooden to berserk, and he didn't manage the transitions well.

It's watchable, and the dogs are well-trained and the best part of the movie. And women may like the male lead's abs, which they put on display in one scene just for that purpose. We won't be viewing it again.

The storyline was kind of slow. The lead actress was bitter and we didn't know why for quite a while. If we knew what had been going on in her life, it would have made it easier to continue to watch. I still muddled through. The lead (new) actor was given a role that was worried and angry most of the time. He never really had the opportunity to shine. Sure, the saving of a dog rescue is serious business. The one time it looked like he smiled the most the camera was at his back. When he said he fell in love with her the moment he met her, I would have never known. Put these two together again with a more lighthearted story. That might work.