The Christmas Shepherd (2014)

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

I can't remember the last time I saw a movie so infuriating. It borders on violence. First, the daughter is possibly the worst character in fiction only just beating her father. Polo is frustrating for not asserting her ownership, taking the dog and ending this crapfest 20 minutes in. How in the hell can any half decent human being justify stealing someones dog. Make no mistake, this daughter, this spoiled rotten, pathetic piece of shite is dead set on stealing this woman's dog to make herself happy....DO YOU GET THAT?!! We have jails full of people who did the exact same thing for the exact same motives, "I'm not happy. You have something I want and that makes me angry so I'm taking it..." Then her father supports her in this endeavor? My kid would be catching a hefty ass whoopin for the same intentions and the thought of keeping anyone's family member/dog when they so desperately want them back is appalling. Polo's character does not fail to show how much this dog mean to her, the dog clearly shows how much he loves her as his true owner. I'd rather beat myself over the head with my television than watch this disgusting crap.

I have just spent a rainy afternoon watching a set of Hallmark Xmas movies. Some were good, and some were quite bad. This one was enjoyable. I liked how realistic it was about dating and being older and alone and what a hassle it is to try to 'date". Then the fear a person can feel when they meet someone. It was very respectful to the spouses who were no longer with them. It was a lighthearted, well acted sweet movie. The two lead actors and the kid where all very good. Of course the dog was good too. It kept away from the corniness that many movies like this tend to lapse into. If you want to watch a feel good, slightly romantic sweet movie, that also has a realistic more "quiet" ending, this is a good one.

Well-written, well-acted. This is a Christmas movie, and Hallmark on top of that, so it's not going to be "Citizen Kane" or "I Was a Teenage Werewolf." Hallmark consistently produces excellent stories that are character-driven.With that said, I found the storyline very poignant and believable. Most everything has been tried before in Christmas movies, and this was a well-written drama without happy smiling faces all around. Without going into details (spoiler alert) people dealing with loss and coming together over a dog. At Christmas.I'm from Massachusetts so the locations mentioned are spot-on. One year we had only a light dusting of snow until long after Christmas, so I didn't find the "no snow" scenery at all unusual.

This stunk. First, a soldier brings a dog back from deployment, later veteran soldier dies prematurely from a heart attack after returning stateside; his widow loses the dog in a storm, a guy picks up dog in his truck and carries it an hour away. Dog ends up in shelter, gal who runs shelter's brother gets dog and has it for a whole two weeks. Meanwhile, the widow is trying to track down her dog, finds shelter and gal who runs it gives her a rash of s..t but finally determines she's the dog's rightful owner. So when widow contacts guy who, again has had dog for a full 14 days as compared to five years for widow, thinks maybe . . . no. She travels there, hits the same garbage and that's where I turned this show off. I have no idea how it turned out but up to then, one of the worst Hallmark or Lifetime type deals I've ever watched. Sucked. Major. Sorry if I spoiled the plot line, but frankly I'm doing you guys a huge favor pre-warning you.