A Belle for Christmas (2014) Directed by Jason Dallas
Yay! Another sappy family Christmas movie! And not just that, it features a dog in at as well! In other words, this movie has disaster written all over it but luckily the movie isn't as bad as it all sounds and looks like.
To be honest, this is some perfectly fun and clean, holiday-themed, family entertainment. It never gets too childish and ridicules (no talking dogs in this one!) to watch and the characters are all very formulaic, yet enjoyable, ones. It's easy to make fun of Dean Cain for playing in dozens of family movies like this each year and for basically playing the same role over and over again but when given the right material to work with, you just simply have to say that he's quite good and likable as an actor in movies such as this.
But more importantly; the kid actors are all quite good in the movie as well. The dialog isn't always that great but at least the kids act, behave and talk as real kids do in this movie.
My only real serious complaint with the movie would have to be the fact that the dog named Belle doesn't play much of a role in this movie. It's weird, since this definitely seems like the type of movie to focus on the dog character and the story indeed does still mostly revolve around him (or was it a she? I seriously got confused by that) but the actual dog is hardly seen in the movie and doesn't get an awful lot to do.
The story, as simple and predictable as it is at parts, still serves its purpose for most part. It's fun but at the same time also still dramatic at the right parts without ever becoming too heavy with anything. There basically is a good and effective balance between all of its many different ingredients, which all combined turns this movie into a pretty decent and entertaining one to watch for the entire family.
6/10
Watch trailer
To be honest, this is some perfectly fun and clean, holiday-themed, family entertainment. It never gets too childish and ridicules (no talking dogs in this one!) to watch and the characters are all very formulaic, yet enjoyable, ones. It's easy to make fun of Dean Cain for playing in dozens of family movies like this each year and for basically playing the same role over and over again but when given the right material to work with, you just simply have to say that he's quite good and likable as an actor in movies such as this.
But more importantly; the kid actors are all quite good in the movie as well. The dialog isn't always that great but at least the kids act, behave and talk as real kids do in this movie.
My only real serious complaint with the movie would have to be the fact that the dog named Belle doesn't play much of a role in this movie. It's weird, since this definitely seems like the type of movie to focus on the dog character and the story indeed does still mostly revolve around him (or was it a she? I seriously got confused by that) but the actual dog is hardly seen in the movie and doesn't get an awful lot to do.
The story, as simple and predictable as it is at parts, still serves its purpose for most part. It's fun but at the same time also still dramatic at the right parts without ever becoming too heavy with anything. There basically is a good and effective balance between all of its many different ingredients, which all combined turns this movie into a pretty decent and entertaining one to watch for the entire family.
6/10
Watch trailer
