So much of this Christmas movie is downright delightful -- the casting, the music, the locations. Heck, the chemistry between our romantic couple is better than I've seen on many of these Lifetime/Hallmark movies (and I do love this kind of Lifetime/Hallmark movie).
But I was upset about the dog (sub)plot when I thought this was titled "12 Wishes for Christmas." Now that I see its original title is "12 Wishes for Christmas for my Dog" I'm even more annoyed -- hence, the SPOILER ALERT.
No, the dog doesn't die. But still....
The dog is adorable -- but for some reason our heroine, who volunteers two days a week at a shelter/dog sanctuary, either adopted it while living in an apartment that doesn't allow pets, or moved with it to an apartment that doesn't allow pets, and to me, both those things make her a fairly irresponsible dog owner. Early on in the story, she's caught by management and told to either move out or get rid of the dog, SO SHE GETS RID OF THE DOG! Yes, she tells the dog "it's only for a little while" as she shuts the chain-link gate in its face at the shelter, but we then see her make NO (zero) effort to fix the problem. She doesn't look for a new apartment. She doesn't talk to management and ask if she can put down a significant deposit or something. Even once she gets her 12 wishes, she spends them on silly things -- new clothes, jewelry, a new car, winning the lottery, giving her best friend a good hair day -- and at no point do we see her even consider using one of those wishes to get her little dog back!
Even worse, she gets so busy at work that she's even skipping her two days/week volunteering at the shelter -- the shelter owner says "long time no see," and our heroine makes excuses. Even after she's resolved almost everything toward the end (other than the dog issue, she does a pretty good redemption), she's having friends over to her house for Christmas WITHOUT THE DOG! The only reason she gets it back is that her new boyfriend arrives with the dog and says he talked to her manager and made arrangements for her to keep it.
As a pet lover, I *really* hated this. I once had to put my cat in quarantine, and I visited her every day, for hours--I wrote and graded papers in the quarantine room--to minimize the time she had to feel abandoned. So if you love pets like I do, fair warning.
Also, her Life-Coach helper (who is delightful) seems to be some kind of elf until, halfway through the story she references her halo, and our heroine starts calling her an angel, with no indication of surprise. Okay.
Again, the acting and chemistry was great. The heroine's redemption in everything but the dog issue was wonderful. But I have to wonder if the writers ever had a pet of their own because, if they were as irresponsible as our protagonist, that might not be a good thing unless they take some kind of classes in pet ownership.
But I was upset about the dog (sub)plot when I thought this was titled "12 Wishes for Christmas." Now that I see its original title is "12 Wishes for Christmas for my Dog" I'm even more annoyed -- hence, the SPOILER ALERT.
No, the dog doesn't die. But still....
The dog is adorable -- but for some reason our heroine, who volunteers two days a week at a shelter/dog sanctuary, either adopted it while living in an apartment that doesn't allow pets, or moved with it to an apartment that doesn't allow pets, and to me, both those things make her a fairly irresponsible dog owner. Early on in the story, she's caught by management and told to either move out or get rid of the dog, SO SHE GETS RID OF THE DOG! Yes, she tells the dog "it's only for a little while" as she shuts the chain-link gate in its face at the shelter, but we then see her make NO (zero) effort to fix the problem. She doesn't look for a new apartment. She doesn't talk to management and ask if she can put down a significant deposit or something. Even once she gets her 12 wishes, she spends them on silly things -- new clothes, jewelry, a new car, winning the lottery, giving her best friend a good hair day -- and at no point do we see her even consider using one of those wishes to get her little dog back!
Even worse, she gets so busy at work that she's even skipping her two days/week volunteering at the shelter -- the shelter owner says "long time no see," and our heroine makes excuses. Even after she's resolved almost everything toward the end (other than the dog issue, she does a pretty good redemption), she's having friends over to her house for Christmas WITHOUT THE DOG! The only reason she gets it back is that her new boyfriend arrives with the dog and says he talked to her manager and made arrangements for her to keep it.
As a pet lover, I *really* hated this. I once had to put my cat in quarantine, and I visited her every day, for hours--I wrote and graded papers in the quarantine room--to minimize the time she had to feel abandoned. So if you love pets like I do, fair warning.
Also, her Life-Coach helper (who is delightful) seems to be some kind of elf until, halfway through the story she references her halo, and our heroine starts calling her an angel, with no indication of surprise. Okay.
Again, the acting and chemistry was great. The heroine's redemption in everything but the dog issue was wonderful. But I have to wonder if the writers ever had a pet of their own because, if they were as irresponsible as our protagonist, that might not be a good thing unless they take some kind of classes in pet ownership.