A Dogwalker's Christmas Tale

Every year we are flooded with these ' Christmas ' films, usually made by television channels and this example is my first introduction to them. Maybe I chose the wrong one, and to a certain extent it does have a social cause at the heart of it. How to save a park from nasty people who want to get rid of it. Dogwalker's love it and lonely people love it and under the layers of cliche and endless dog caressing it has its heart in the right place. But sadly the constant smiling, and a cringe worthy romance makes it difficult to endure. The two leads do their best but swamped by Christmas tinsel and an awful musical soundtrack I felt sorry for them and hoped that fate would be kind and give them better roles. Everyone smiles and the utter and rather juvenile simplicity of how people really spend their lives is overwhelmingly trite, and the happiness factor is pumped up to the maximum. The men have to be muscular and third rate Prince Charming's and the women are suitably submissive. This is film as fast food product and like consuming too much sweet things it could induce addiction. Give me the bread and butter of those days outside of Christmas any day.

From the title itself you can tell that this will be no classic. It's a Christmas TV movie and expectations should be set at that level.

A rich girl meets a dog walker in the park and finds herself in a battle to save a local park from developers, which makes her re- evaluate her principles.

Like many of it's genre bedfellows it's very predictable and relies on the cast and the characters to make it a success. The cast do a good show with the limited material. Lexi Giovagnoli exudes a certain charm as the spoilt rich kid finally growing up and Jonathan Bennett does a half decent job as the activist. The back up cast are all adequate, with Timeca M. Seretti especially good in a cameo role as one of the dog walkers.

It's nicely filmed and there are a few hit and miss attempts at humour to go with the predictable romance. It's full to the brim with the usual Christmas messages i.e money isn't everything, family and friends mean the world etc. This is no bad thing but maybe they are forced home a bit too clumsily here.

You will pretty much know what's going to happen but as a very easy to watch Christmas movie, you could do a lot worse.

BEWARE OF FALSE REVIEWS & REVIEWERS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW TO THEIR NAME. NOW WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE MOVIE. IF ITS A NEGATIVE REVIEW THEN THEY MIGHT HAVE A GRUDGE AGAINST THE FILM . NOW I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 300 HOLIDAY FILMS & SPECIALS. I HAVE NO AGENDA.

Luce Lockhart loves Christmas, but she finds herself in a predicament when she maxes out her credit card. Desperately wanting a ruby necklace, Luce has no choice but to accept a dog walking job for the Brandts. Reluctantly agreeing to walk Hank, Luce finds a nearby dog park where she meets some of the dog owners, including exasperating dog walker Dean Silver. Soon after, she learns that the Brandts have plans to create a spa on the dog park land. When Dean finds out about these plans, he and Luce are at odds on Dean's agenda to stop the development. But as Luce spends more time with Hank and Dean, she starts to see the park in a different light. Stuck in a bad spot of having to choose between the Brandts or Dean, Luce will have to decide if she'll be able to save the dog park by Christmas

This film is watchable but you will forget the film by the time you wake up in the morning.

What is fun to watch is to see how the makers if this film tried to hide Jonathan Bennet's stomach. They try to do this with the camera angles and wardrobe but he has gained lots of weight since his "Mean Girls" days.

Now this film does have a few surprises. That is what keeps this film from being a total waste of time. The performances are good and the film moves along at a brisk pace. There is "Worse Christmas Movies" out there but there also many better "Christmas Movies" out there as well!

Who knows why these cheesy, made-for-TV movies appeal to me, but Netflix has me pegged and I am watching all of them.. 'A Dog Walker's Christmas Tale' claims to be set in Austin, Texas. As an Austin native, I am deeply offended. As an actual dog sitter, I could not believe that half of the actors were committed dog owners.

This movie is riding on Austin's coattails, likely because we have recently gained notoriety with the rest of the country. However, this movie does not actually take place in Austin, but instead a small, adjacent suburb that is the embarrassingly conservative cousin to our liberal, weird Austin. Perhaps 1% of the movie was actually filmed in Austin city limits, and that includes the brief shot of the downtown skyline during the opening credits. The rest was filmed primarily in Round Rock, which is night-and-day in aesthetic character. The backdrops of shops and landmarks do not at all authentically represent Austin. And yet, there are countless references to our capital city.

The plot revolves around dog lovers who congregate in a well-groomed dog park (again, the majority of Austin dog parks are torn up because dogs really PLAY in them). While I can handle the inevitable over-acting in these movies, only one or two of the actors really knew how to handle their four-legged counterparts. Most of these people were obviously uncomfortable, and reserved in their contact.

Overall, the plot, script, and execution were on par with all other films in this category. However I am definitely disappointed. I am an Austin dog walker, and was hoping to fall in love with the cheesy and romantic Christmas hope of falling in love with a fellow dog walker. Instead, I could only notice all of the drastic untruths.

Luce Lockhart wants a ruby necklace for Christmas, but can't afford it. A wealthy obnoxious developer friend offers to get her the necklace in exchange for taking her very large dog walking during the holidays. Luce really doesn't like dogs but she really likes rubies, so she agrees to do it. Along the way, she encounters an attractive dog walker at the dog park. Could romance blossom? Not if the developers (who happen to own the dog Luce is walking) bulldoze the park before it happens! Dog walkers from all over town converge on the park to find a way to take advantage of Luce's connection and stop the developers. Does Luce get the ruby necklace? Is Luz the Christmas miracle that saves the park for the dog walkers? Can dog walking lead to a walk down the aisle?

It's an interesting storyline when the dog shows up at the 23 minute mark until about an hour into it. Before and after that, the movie feels like walking your dog down the same road for the hundredth time to its predictable end. It's not the worst Christmas movie of 2015, but you might find walking your dog more enjoyable than watching it.