My Dog's Christmas Miracle (2011)

Lack of good storyline.

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

(Very minor spoilers) Cinnamon is a dog: a very spoiled dog belonging to divorced university professor and single mom Madeline (Cynthia Gibb). Madeline is dating, but the dates are complete disasters, and Cinnamon is relieved to have Madeline basically to herself. But then Madeline meets the architect working on a new addition to the university, a widower named Kevin (Greg Evigan) and his son Jordan. Madeline and Kevin are smitten immediately, and Cinnamon is convinced her life is going to change for the worse if Kevin and Jordan become a permanent part of Madeline's life. Cinnamon therefore sets out to wreck the budding relationship, and employs tactics ranging from barking and biting, to urinary attack, to running away to insure her position as "top dog" in Madeline's life. Unfortunately, Cinnamon is also a dog of a movie, with Brenda Song (from Zack and Cody fame) wisely choosing not to be credited with the annoying voice she gives to a very annoying character. You see, Cinnamon cares nothing for her owner's happiness, only her own, and the change-of-heart essential to movies of this sort will come about not by Cinnamon realizing the error of her ways, but rather by Cinnamon having a new selfish agenda. And Madeline – if you were crazy about your dog, would you let your dog run off to play with a child you've only just met outside of your supervision? Would you then drop off the little beastie unannounced for your new boyfriend to dog-sit, knowing that your dog seems to hate said boyfriend? Of course you wouldn't, because that would be logical – unfortunately, Madeline does both these things, and more. There are also cringe-worthy bits of dialogue (my personal favourite is Jordan saying "How can I live with myself?" when Cinnamon goes missing), as well as random plot lines that are started, and then dropped like a spoiled child (dog?) getting bored with a toy. Gibb and Evigan do their best with appalling material, and are the reason the movie is not rated lower. What Lesley-Ann Down was doing in the movie is a complete mystery - her character seems almost entirely superfluous. Even the original title (it is titled CINNAMON in South Africa) is suspect: "MY DOG'S Christmas MIRACLE" seems to be a cheap cash-in on the festive season, since the story has almost nothing to do with Christmas, and Cinnamon does very little to accomplish anything miraculous. Give this one a skip unless you or your children are absolutely crazy about talking dogs.