Des souvenirs pour Noël

I absolutely detested Jessica right off the bat so anything that came after that it was hard for me to forgive her. How can she be this stupid, and this is a federal prosecutor, apparently successful. Buying a house is not something you put off figuring you can grab it at the last minute. And then she was arrogant, stubborn and blind about it. So I really didn't want to see Michael end up with her.

I kept watching it for a few reasons. 1) I like Nicholas Brendon. 2) There are two cute kids and cute dog. 3) You have to know the childhood friendship is going to come back into play somehow.

The acting was decent though not exceptional. The story had definite possibilities if it could have toned down Jessica's psychotic behavior.

The two kids have the wisdom of the ages which is a bit much at times.

Of course nothing is a surprise, but that didn't mean it wasn't sweet.

The main virtues - the flavors of childhood, the Rottweiler and the two kids.

The big problem - Jessica. She seems just psychotic, selfish at whole, absurd in too many senses. And the romance, unfortunately, forced.

But it is a beautiful film in essence, first for the fair use of the game with pieces of past. And for a fair definition of parenthood and lovely wisdom of children. And, sure, for the tree, lunch box and the man actor. And, I admitt - for Jason London and.................Their presence just works.

Yes, it is a Hallmark, with all sins and few drops of virtues. So, saved by nostalgic air. And by children.

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.

'A Golden Christmas' has elements of both extremes, leaning sadly more towards the more negative category though for other reasons. It is definitely a watchable film on its own and it was great seeing 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer's' Nicholas Brendan in the male lead role. But it is not much much of a Christmas film and is hugely unbalanced by one character. Lets not get started on the truly misleading advertising, that as others have said indicates a sweet inoffensive film with dogs as main characters when it is really nothing of the sort.

There are things that 'A Golden Christmas' does more than serviceably in. 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. Brendan is very engaging in his role.

Liked the supporting cast a good deal too, with the best thing about the film being a truly delightful Elisa Donovan. It was very interesting and nice to see a sympathetic side to Bruce Davison. There are some cute moments here and there.

It is a real shame that 'A Golden Christmas' is severely let down and unbalanced by the grossly overdone unlikeability of the character of Jessica. A character that Andrea Roth (who has given competent performances elsewhere) overdoes, with that much negativity, very little character growth and not many redeeming merits the character is intolerable. It is very difficult to be charmed, amused or moved by the story when one hates the lead character this much.

More often than not, 'A Golden Christmas' is very cheesy and contrived. Especially at the end where it all feels too conveniently neat. The story is thin and unoriginal, with very little of the charm and heart factors, a dull pace and sometimes a mean-spirited edge. The chemistry between Roth and Brendan isn't there, the relationship is too underdeveloped and the chemistry itself is too much of a mismatch. As a result of one character being excessively nasty and the other being likeable but at times too nice and naive. The dialogue doesn't always flow and the cheese and sugar gets too much at times.

Overall, watchable but not great. 5/10.

My problem with this movie is that the cover shows a bunch of puppies so my daughter & I thought it was going to be ABOUT puppies at Christmas. It was in the kids section but it did not keep her entertained & we were both unhappy that we felt misled by the cover & where it was placed in the video rental store. The sticker on the DVD cover says Family Holiday which I guess is correct because there were no inappropriate themes, etc. so I can see why it is family & holiday. I guess my problem is more with where it was in the rental store because it was in the kids section, not family section. I think it is more of a family holiday romance though so I am glad that we get unlimited movie rentals for a flat fee with Blockbuster so I did not have to spend much on this lesson.

This is a very nice, entertaining holiday film from beginning to end. The acting is good, the plot is engaging. I highly recommend it for adults and children 12+. The only downer is that the cover is very misleading. This is not a children's movie about puppies, it's a romantic holiday drama. I think it was disingenuous of the distributors of this film to package it as a puppy movie for little kids. Cutthroat marketing knows no shame, so be warned! If you want to see a heartwarming romantic drama about the holiday season, this is a great film! But it's not a puppy movie that the toddlers will squeal and giggle at for an hour+. Small kids will be bored to distraction, and there may be a rebellion of suppressed energy during such a film.