A Dog for Christmas

This movie totally ruins Santa and Christmas for children. It needs to come with a warning so that people with young kids who still believe in Santa do NOT watch it. It certainly should not be listed as a "family" movie. The story line is ridiculous and the acting is horrible. There is a scene where grandpa is reading "The Night Before Christmas" with all the kids snuggled in bed awaiting Santa to arrive, and then they go and show the dads carrying all the presents in from the car, and discussing the fact that they have to do all the work of getting the ""Santa" presents ready. Then they show grandpa up on the roof stomping around trying to make the kids think it's Santa. Then when horrified parents watching this movie with their children who have been fielding questions for 10 minutes about why is wasn't Santa putting those present under the tree think that not all is lost and the movie will explain about the magic of Santa their hopes are dashed. Grandpa and the dad just get into a fight because it was grandpa who bought the dog. No mention of Santa at all. The trailer for the movie should not have pictures of Santa all over it if they were going to show that Santa was not real. If the creators of this movie set out to destroy childhood they did a great job.

I stumbled upon the 2015 Christmas movie titled "A Dog for Christmas" by random chance, though it was titled "Christmas Staycation" here for some reason. Regardless, I opted to sit down and watch the movie given the season and all, and with it being a movie that I hadn't already seen.

And while "A Dog for Christmas" is a Christmas movie, it sort of felt like a watered down attempt of making a movie similar to the "Nation Lampoons Christmas Vacation", except writers Joel Paul Reisig and Scott Voshel didn't manage half the amount of comedy and laughs that the "Nation Lampoons Christmas Vacation" managed. Nor did they manage to create the same amount of contents to the movie that makes it suitable for a yearly viewing in the holiday seasons.

Sure, "A Dog for Christmas" can be seen, but it is the type of movie you will watch only once. And the title of the movie was sort of stupid as the dog part only was in the last minute or so of the movie.

What worked well enough for this movie was the cast, which included Dean Cain - though in a minor role. And also Richard Karn - whom I haven't seen since "Home Improvements".

Ultimately then "A Dog for Christmas" is a Christmas movie that is bound to be forgotten rather quickly, as the storyline is subpar and feels like a poor man's version of "Nation Lampoons Christmas Vacation".

My rating of director Chris Nickin and Joel Paul Reisig's "A Dog for Christmas" lands on a generous three out of ten stars.

Hello all, I am the writer and producer. I wanted to reply to the comments here.

In general, I agree. If you sat down to watch this movie with your little kids, and you're expecting a cute Christmas movie - you're going to think that this is the worst movie ever made!

The movie was never intended for kids, grandmas, or the Hallmark crowd. The title "A Dog For Christmas" was forced on me by the original distributor. It's a terrible title, there's no dog in my movie! Same thing with the artwork. I was given no say in the matter. The movie has nothing to do with Santa. But the original distributor did not care, at all.

If you watch the movie for what it is, you might actually like it. So what is it? It is a lower budget version of Christmas Vacation, made for adults who have seen Christmas Vacation twenty times and would like to try something new. Does the movie have a plot? Barely. Does Christmas Vacation have a plot? Barely. Both are movies about having your entire extended family in for Christmas. Both are quite funny and relatable. One (ours) has a much lower budget.

Send the kids to bed. Have some drinks. Enjoy the movie.

Geez, what a bunch of Scrooges and Grinches in the review section of this movie! This is solid, but corny comedy with a healthy dose of moral thrown in to make it a nice Christmas movie that despite disclaimers is a family suitable movie that will make you laugh, if not warm your heart.

The role of Santa Claus as the narrator does not add very much to the storyline and is, at times, a hindrance to the flow of the story, but I guess it was meant to add a little charm to the slapstick side of the film. I just wish they had integrated his pr, as it is he just functions as an outside presence into the story.

I am amused at all the complaints about the name of the movie because of the inclusion of the word "dog" in the title, since sometimes a good tale can revolve around an aspect that is not present during most of the story! People need to chill out and just enjoy. Not a great movie, not a great cast and no Oscar nominees here, but just a little good clean fun!

One of those movies made without a script or plot or acting or a professional cameraman or lighting concerns. Shot with an i-phone, disjointed and apparently unedited. Absolutely a painful waste of time. The only ones who MIGHT enjoy this would be those who are dull and drunken.