A Dog for Christmas (2015) User Reviews

NOT a Christmas Classic, but not horrible!!!

[geraldleejones-20639 · 5/10 · 26 December 2023]

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!

A poor man's version of "Nation Lampoons Christmas Vacation"...

[paul_haakonsen · 3/10 · 9 December 2021]

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.

Where is the dog?

[braydengibson · 1/10 · 2 November 2019]

With a title like "A dog for christmas" you'd think there would be a dog in it? The dog shows up 6 minutes before the end of the movie. It is in no way about the dog at all. I feel bad for Richard Karn, who has fallen from grace and into this christmas hellscape. I normally like quirky movies like this but man when you offer up a dog, you gotta give me a dog.

This movie ruins Santa for children.

[angecan-65684 · 1/10 · 30 November 2020]

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.

A Christmas Movie

[sparkleberrycottage · 7/10 · 6 August 2019]

If you like to watch all the different Christmas Movies you will like it. I happen to be big Christmas Movie lover. Yeah I wouldn't give it a 10 but it does deserve a solid 7. Loved the "whole family" theme at one house for the Holidays. I am actually from Michigan and we always spent the holidays together. It is worth a watch.

Too dumb and annoying to watch

[jlhubbahubba · 1/10 · 13 December 2019]

I couldn't even make it thru the first 5 mins. I kept fast forwarding, hoping it would get better, but it didn't. I can't believe Dean Cain and Richard Kane let themselves be in it. Skip it and find something worth your time. 7.9/10 - NO way!!

this is fun

[mymeister · 7/10 · 26 November 2022]

I liked this: a riff off of national lampoon christmas vacation but done well. The one thing missing was for the women to get their fun..they should have had them flying off for a 2 week carribean trip right at the end leaving the boys to clean up and watch kids etc. I mean they set it up by having them glare at the men for leaving all the cooking and cleaning to the women...and then it fizzled...minus one for that...I liked how the men had their fun evening and the kids were allowed to be free range kids...this is better than the usual boring holiday romance movie. I am going to guess a bunch of men wrote and directed this...

Zzzzzzz.......

[philneil · 1/10 · 12 December 2019]

I've rated one star to try and counteract the currently fake 8 star rating.

There seems to be a plot line missing from this movie. Also, no dog.

The lighting is shocking for a Christmas movie, it's harsh and cold whereas it should be warm and comforting,

Dean Cain must have been desperate to take on this turkey.

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

[jpreisig · 10/10 · 27 October 2021]

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.

Christmas Staycation

[ajwaka-43177 · 7/10 · 21 December 2022]

I was telling people if you are tired of the same movies check this one out. Low budget, but goofily entertaining.

Hard time finding the real name, I'd never give the title/ description here about a girl and a dog a chance, wife and daughters can watch that while I'm at work.

Christmas Syay-cation is about a dad that wants the extended family to stay at his home, but crazy antics always creep in. Sure, Christmas Vacation-esque, but not an attempt to redo or even extend Christmas Vacation.

Face it, low budget movies are skewed by ratings. Low budget 6-7 is equivalent to a large budget 9-10.

Thank you writers, cast, and crew for just putting "something else" out there for us to watch! I love Elf, but feel asleep during the first half this year. (It's almost 20 years old)

So thank you! I do recommend.

Christmas Vacation it is not.

[shaunephillips28 · 1/10 · 24 November 2021]

So here we are at the bottom of the barrel of Christmas movies. About five minutes into the movie I knew I was either in for a cheesy over the top funny movie or a frustratingly annoying crap fest. Sadly, the latter seems to be more accurate. On prime, the movie was under the title of Christmas Staycation for some odd reason, but something tells me as the movie continues I'm understanding why.

Out of no where, Richard Karn comes in to narrate the movie. At first, I thought the movie had changed because it makes no sense for Richard Karn to come in 7 minutes into the movie. Usually the narrators start the movie. That way you know there's going to be a narrator, but abruptly out of no where he shows up dressed as Santa to narrate a movie that doesn't need narration. I haven't watched the entire movie yet, but I'm getting the feeling they added in Richard Kern to change what the movie is about. I think someone realized the movie has little to do with the title and they needed someone to narrate to better explain what's going on.

A few minutes later I realized I was watching a Christmas Vacation ripoff and not a good one. If their going to ripoff a Christmas classic, at least have the decency to get it right. The longer the movie went on the less the movie made sense. So let me get this right, the family is showing up soon, yet, they go downtown to skate, they don't have the Christmas tree up and they are not ready for family what's so ever and why, that way they can set up the movie to be one stressful event after the other.

They start setting up the tree. First the wife wants it's an inch from the fireplace, then in front of the walk way and then where the chair was. As if they haven't ever figured out the proper place for the darn tree. Eventually the family shows up and every one of them is truly annoying. Okay, I get where this movie is going. Everything is a problem, every person is obnoxious and the movie is going to be a succession of moments where people make things annoyingly difficult for no reason at all. That can work when it's actually funny. There's nothing funny about a 14 year old kid getting stuck in a chimney, yet the house from the outside doesn't have a chimney! Where's the chimney, who knows?

When Dean Kane appeared on screen it became apparent they spent the movies budget on 90s t.v. Stars. Which, so far are the only highlights. But wait... there's more 90s tv stars coming.

I'm almost 40 minutes into the movie and what the movie is about, a girl wanting a dog, has only been mentioned twice. For maybe a total of a minute of screen time. So much for the movie being about a dog.

I'm not going to talk about every stupid thing that happens in this movie. Ill just say it, the movie is awful.

One of the 25 worst Christmas movies ever made.

[clarkhay · 1/10 · 24 December 2018]

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.

Not sure why I'm still watching this

[jeffvw-05852 · 1/10 · 27 November 2018]

The main character of the movie is not a dog or even the girl who wants the dog. It his her father who is simply an awful person with a hot wife. The highlight of this movie is actually Dustin Diamond who gives the performance of a lifetime-his lifetime anyway. I'm going back to watching the unauthorized Saved By The Bell story again.

Terrible movie

[brodytift · 1/10 · 31 January 2021]

There is no plot whatsoever it is so random I would not recommend it for a million bucks