Un Noël câlin

Good movie, simple and straight forward. As the title suggests there were 3 subplots. The main plot about a couple who had broken up, but are reunited when one of them David is about to propose to a new love. Then Lisa, the heroine has a pre-teen niece who has her own little love story. Also Lisa's neighbors, a newly retired couple have a subplot. Oh and David and his fiancé have a little story where he becomes aware of how different they are from one another--and out of sync.

The story was realistic there was no over the top conflict or drama. No one was grieving a a parent. Tho Lisa was bitter about her father abandoning the family--which factored into her own trust isues. Lisa and David don't argue, but the audience finds out about how they broke up. No tragedy happens. My only critique is David and Lisa didn't have enough romantic moments in the film to justify the ending.

I loved the theme of the movie: Marry your best friend.

I did not realize this was a sequel of sorts to a Golden Christmas. I have not watched that one yet. The cast is good, the story is sweet. A few things bugged me, like no single women would get three golden retriever puppies and what landlord would allow her that many dogs? That felt like a plot gimmick to me. But really who cares? Cute girl, cute puppies, cute kids, who were pretty good actors too. I used to live in LA, so while I watching it, I thought what beach did they film this on, kinda low rent. Then it said Long Beach in the credits. That explained that. The setting is not lush in any part of the movie. The story is sweet, the acting is good and it is enjoyable. I am not giving a plot synopsis, because other people did that and I avoid spoilers. Holiday movies are their own genre, when I read reviews on those, I just want to know if they are any good, not the plot really. Since there are only about 4 plots that keep getting recycled for Holiday movies! Happy Holidays.

BEWARE OF BOGUS REVIEWS & REVIEWERS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW. WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE PRODUCTION. TRUST ME THIS FILM IS TERRIBLE. NOW I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 400 Christmas MOVIES. I HAVE NO AGENDA. I AM FARE.

This film is a sequel to "A Golden Christmas" and if you liked the original then you will like this one as well. In this follow up film Rod and Katherine are enjoying their retirement in Florida. They've made friends with their new neighbor, Lisa, whose three golden retriever puppies give the couple's dog, Jake, three new playmates. But when the retrievers take off during a walk with Lisa and interrupt a wedding proposal, Lisa is mortified to discover the proposer is her ex, David.

The casting is fine and the plot hums along but at times it just feels like everyone is just going through the motions without much depth in some of the scenes.

My favorite scene in the whole film however is the final scene. I thought it was creative and inspiring.

I just watched this film for the fourth or fifth time and was reminded why I like to revisit it each Christmas season. It first caught my eye as a movie that my girlfriend's young daughter would enjoy and that might have something for her mom and me as well. But it turned out that this movie isn't about puppies, and I wonder if it might have found a larger audience if it had not been presented as a "family" film. It's more like a Hallmark romantic comedy, but with much better acting. In that regard, Julie Gonzalo is luminous, but she's not just a pretty face. I was impressed with her acting and prompted to check out her other credits. The other acting highlights for me were Alley Mills and Alexandra Peters, the latter being a rarity: a child actor who could really act. These three ladies all made me feel like I was eavesdropping on real people having real conversations. There are a couple of morals to this story, but the one I like best comes from Aunt Pearl, whom we never meet: A gift without a big price tag can be priceless, and rich are the ones who realize it.

While loving Christmas (a lifelong love too) and having liked/loved many Christmas films, there are plenty of Christmas films that are too sappy and cheese ridden as well as predictable. Have seen quite a few films in the past few years with this type of story, which has been familiar territory for most holidays (all holidays not just Christmas) for a while now, and they have varied in success, some are very charming, sweet and engaging while others are too simplistic, dull and silly.

Mostly this second instalment in the 'A Golden Christmas' film series fits in the former category. While it is a long way from a flawless film (with the story being easy to criticise) and would also hesitate in calling it great, it is an improvement over the previous 'A Golden Christmas' film. One of the biggest improvements that is immediately noted being that the female lead character is a lot more tolerable and actually does not ruin the film unlike before.

It could have been better. It is over-silly in parts, which makes some comedic situations feel forced and over-engineered. The plot does feel thin and sometimes over-stretched, and there could have been more freshness as there is too much of a seen it all before vibe throughout.

The dialogue also isn't always great, especially in the first third where some of it is quite painfully cheesy.

However, a lot is done right. It is pleasant looking, especially the scenery inside and particularly out. The music doesn't sound cheap or over-bearing, and was clearly done by someone that knew what they were writing music for. The direction is generally confident enough and it doesn't get heavy-footed or hectic. The acting is better than average from all, particularly from Julie Gonzalo and Alexandra Peters, and the dogs are absolutely adorable and are worth seeing the film for alone.

Actually did like the characters, they had personality and personalities that endeared and entertained rather than irritated or being ones with overblown flaws. After seeing far too many annoying, unlikeable and overly-negative female lead characters recently, it was a relief to see one that was easy to like and warm to. There are plenty of funny and sweet moments in the dialogue when the writing did start to get better. Most of the film isn't dull and the story is good-natured, light-hearted and charming.

Concluding, not something to be bowled over by but pleasant enough film. 7/10.