User reviews

It is like my fifth or sixth Christmas film of the season and I must say that I'm not fully pleased. Sadly, this one stands at the last among those I have seen. I'm not bashing it, but the narration lacked the festival spirit. Everyone in the story seems kind of depressing. But that is how this tale was designed to be different from this theme that our television channels are crowded with at this time. So I enjoyed watching it, in the end, I did not like it much as an overall film.

A father, travelling around the North America in his RV had not seen his daughter for like a decade. But his surprise visit during the Christmas eve brings a mixed feeling to her. That's not the same with the rest of the town, who are very happy to see him again. When he adopts a dog, it causes even more trouble in a relationship with his daughter. But his granddaughter is very fond of him and together they do all the festival stuffs. The remaining is to cover how he's going to win his daughter back.

Expecting too much from a television film is very foolish, but that should not be a reason, even when a film is really does not stand up to the mark. The main plot was much better, and it was not fully exploited as it should have been. Especially, most of the parts were predictable and that's fine, but a couple of energetic and surprising events would have turned it around.

Still, I liked the actors, particularly the director in one of the main roles, and again in particular the little kid. She sounded like a very matured (child) actress, so I hope she makes big in the filmdom. Sorry to say, none others, including Mena Suvari looked like they are in the film. In some of the parts, the dog stole the show. So overall simply an okay film, but it can be watched once.

5/10

I want to make clear that I didn't make it to the end. As far as I went through with this torture, I want to point out the really bad acting, the 8-year old that knows everything and talks/thinks like an adult and the poor script that came along with it.

This is a movie I'll look forward to watching many times. A true to heart lesson about going home to right any wrongs. An enjoyable performance by Giselle Eisenberg and an amazing performance by both James Brolin and Mena Suvari, the three of them create a family unit that is sometimes stressful, but continually moving forward to an unbreakable family bond. Fabulous movie!

Didn't like the acting at all.. the story is not that great either .. I consider it to be waste of time

We've got James Brolin (76) as a Grinch/Grandpa, an eight year old outspoken grand daughter that steals the show, a beautiful smart daughter with a mismatched boyfriend and a dog. These combine for a great movie. As soon as I saw the interaction between Brolin and the grand daughter Gracie- I was won over. Loved those scenes. Brolin's gruff manner just makes the movie delightful to watch. Also loved Angela Asher with that deep voice.

This is definitely a winner. Not a dull moment in this movie. Lead actress was delightful. John Reardon role was also good. A touch of Beethoven destruction with the dog.

I love Christmas movies. Watch them all year round. From cheesie to funny to deep. This was terrible. None of the characters were likeable. As for the child actor?? Nothing cute or charming or even believable fiesty. Just terrible. Wooden staged acting. I switched it off and she was a massive decider in that. Love James brolin but this was an awful movie.

The movie is beyond bad. The acting,the script,the dog! It's so bad that me and my wife laughed mostly trough the entire movie.

Don't.See It

I have watched most of Hallmark Christmas 2016 movies. I also saw many of the older movies as I am relatively new to Hallmark Christmas. I rate this one high, because it was well acted. There was no portion where I wanted to stop watching because the actions (usually the heroine's) were cringe-worthy, painful or too unrealistic.

The plot wasn't incredibly original, but it was well put together. A father reconnecting with his daughter after a number of years, and a heroine with multiple romantic interests. The little girl in the movie was adorable, and Hallmark didn't shy away from divorce this time. Even the dog was a nice touch. Frankly, this was one of the better movies of the season, even if it didn't hit us over the head with Christmas. Even the dislike of the holiday story line was short lived and not dragged out. The scenes with the grandfather and granddaughter were cute.

Overall, I think perhaps this season Hallmark may have produced too many movies this season, because the quality appeared to not be as good as some of the older movies. Still, this one was pleasant.

I cant stand Suvari. (Shiver) she is nails on the chalkboard to me. I see she took a break from grade Z shlock movies. Brolin was miserable. Not likeable at all here. I think Streisand made him do the movie to get him out of the mansion. His disinterest was obvious. Sorry James, sometimes you have to leave her 100 room mansion and actually do something. Even my wife who loves all these movies said he was miserable. The kid was OBNOXIOUS!!!!. Not funny, not charming and badly cast. Comments WAY over her age range. It was brutal listening to her. Crappy writers. No charm, nothing likeable. This was awful. The users who loved it must have worked on the movie. I had to bail out two thirds of the way through to save brain cells. Ugh!!!

Well, for a Hallmark Christmas movie, then this 2016 movie titled "I'll Be Home for Christmas" was sort of a swing and a miss. Especially so, since the movie wasn't really crammed with much of neither Christmas spirit, nor the usual Christmas cheese and sappy romance that Hallmark is known for.

Personally I don't really fathom what writer Robin Bernheim was setting out to accomplish with the storyline written for "I'll Be Home for Christmas", because it certainly didn't feel like a Christmas movie. The movie was heavy on the drama emphasis, and the Christmas aspect just sort of drained away. And like the Christmas feel drained away, so did my interest in the movie as it trotted on and on. Truth be told, I upped and turned off the movie with just 10 minutes left to watch. Yeah, I know, right? But trust me, by that time, I was good and ready to just pull the plug.

The storyline in all its shortcoming was the reason for why "I'll Be Home for Christmas" failed to entertain me.

It should be said, though, that "I'll Be Home for Christmas" does have a good cast ensemble, with the likes of James Brolin - whom also directed the movie - and Mena Suvari.

I found "I'll Be Home for Christmas" to be a rather terrible movie to watch during the holiday season, so I wouldn't recommend you waste your time, money or effort on this 2016 Hallmark Christmas movie.

My rating of "I'll Be Home for Christmas" lands on a generous three out of ten stars.

Maybe one Christmas I will watch a Christmas film where they are not all single solicitors with a kid. The best actor is the dog and the girl knows too much. Must be all that re education the kids now have at school.

James Brolin is a pro on both sides of the camera. Giselle Eisenberg as Gracie is utterly captivating. Without her rate this one 6-7, with her give it a 10. The plot is somewhat formulaic, and the rest of the cast is made up of typically capable Hallmark Channel movie actors and actresses, but the viewer tends to stay tuned for Gracie's next scene.

Contrary to many of the negative reviews of this film, my view is that this film is one of the better Hallmark films.

If more Hallmarks had such diversity, then perhaps there would be more of the regular population who would view them, not just the "sappy typical" females (and some males) that many view as the "chick flick" type!

The roles played may be of the same "title" as others, but the characters were more unique than the typical characters in too many Hallmark films. It is great to see diversity in the characters of the higher quality Hallmarks.

I highly recommend this film.

It illustrates humour, caring, and love with a little different plot and a pleasure to watch as the characters blend with each other to enhance each other's characters. We continue to learn from each other, right?

Enjoy!

I've watched this movie numerous times. It's definitely a feel-good Christmas movie. Touches on certain realities in life that happens with families with parents who serve as policeman & firemen, especially during the holidays, but James Brolin does a great job in balancing the storyline with a sense of humor also. The little girl is wiser than the adults, but this is ok in this Christmas storyline - it works. I'll continue to watch this movie as a favorite.

Christmas movies are the best thing on TV right now! Enjoyable story, appealing actors. "Gracie " was the best!

Okay the eight year old is a little annoying but she's growing in the shadow of her attorney mother. A slightly stuck up loaded single mother. In comparison to most house holds where you scrape by on a few pounds, Americans sure like to go all out and impress you with how much they have. The Grandad though a retired police officer is a fantastic character and role model for the girl. Once her mother sorts out her love life where of course they have to put the flirting in otherwise this wouldn't be American, it's actually a good movie. Festive, nicely written and anything other than flat. You don't need special effects to make a good Christmas film.

I for one thought it was a good movie. Yes I do have to agree the 8 year old showed a lot of need forr experiance. But the movie in itself was worth watching. Watched two time and looking to watch again.

I love the movie and I'm really a huge fan of Mena Suvari

A cute simple movie and very refreshing to watch a movie without "Hollywood's " forced social agenda being thrown in your face throughout the movie!

Some dudes think that a Christmas movie should be an Oscar contender. Oh well, I am not one of them. As a Christmas movie, this is excellent. Very good play: Giselle is astonishing, Mena, James and John are really good. The movie is well done, well played, a winner in general. Was the subject used before? Oh well, if it's not about a sort of an alien (aliens) wishing to endanger human Christmas traditions by the way of a transported collateral, probably it was used before; because there is a limited number of stories that emotion us on this beautiful holiday. No doubt that this is one of them!