A Dog’s Perfect Christmas Review: ★★☆☆☆ (2/5)
A Dog’s Perfect Christmas has an adorable basset hound and a few nice moments. The story is predictable, the stakes feel low, and the big names are wasted.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆ (2/5)
Genre: Christmas Family Drama
Language: English
Cast: Dennis Quaid, Milo Ventimiglia, Kathleen Rose Perkins, Brooke Lena Johnson, Mary Steenburgen, Thomas Haden Church (voice)
Netflix did not wait for the leaves to fall. Just days into November, the streamer has already opened its Christmas movie season with A Dog’s Perfect Christmas, and it is now streaming. It comes from W Bruce Cameron, the writer behind A Dog’s Purpose, and it leans hard on a sweet basset hound to win you over.
The story follows a family on the verge of cracking under holiday stress. Juliana, played by Kathleen Rose Perkins, runs the house and looks after toddler twins. Her husband, Hunter (Milo Ventimiglia), is too busy trying to impress a tricky new boss, Cathryn Michon, who also directs the film.
Their teenage daughter, Ello, played by Brooke Lena Johnson, is moody. Living with them is Sander Goss, played by Dennis Quaid, a widowed grandfather who spent all his money on medical treatments and had to move in. He is grumpy and grieving, and he thinks everyone starts Christmas far too early.
That is where Winstead comes in. The basset hound, voiced by Thomas Haden Church, is a well-meaning dunce who sorts the world into things that are very good and very bad. Merry Christmas is, of course, his favorite word. He just wants everyone to get along, and a corgi puppy joins the fun too.
The dog is the best part of the film. Winstead’s droopy eyes bring whatever real feeling the movie has. A few small things also work. Ello shares a couple of nice ice-dancing scenes with a new hockey player named Sean, played by Ethan Loomis.
Mary Steenburgen adds some spice as Claire, a widowed townswoman, and every scene she walks into feels a little warmer. The soundtrack has a lovely cover of Joni Mitchell’s River and a fun play of Ariana Grande’s Santa Tell Me. The town is meant to be Traverse City, and it was actually shot in British Columbia, yet it looks believable enough.
Sadly, the rest of the film is hard to remember. The writing is blunt, and the characters explain their own backstories out loud, as when Juliana tells her daughter why Grandpa moved in. The film jumps between soap drama and light comedy, and nothing ever feels like it matters.
Even when Juliana is knocked out by an infection that could lead to sepsis, her family treats it like a sprained ankle for half the movie. When the story finally turns serious, it works for a moment, but it never goes far.
It is also a shame to see Dennis Quaid and Milo Ventimiglia given so little to do. Quaid is stuck playing a gloomy man with one note, and Ventimiglia is lost in a thin role. Compared with other Netflix Christmas films, this one is neither silly enough to be fun nor clever enough to stand out. It is technically fine, but it feels like a copy of a copy.
If you want better company after this, our Stick Season 2 review covers a warm comedy that knows how to use its cast. For something with more bite, read our The Greatest review on Prime Video’s Muhammad Ali series, or try our Bass X Machina review for an animated western with real heart.
A Dog’s Perfect Christmas will probably find an audience on second screens all season long. It is harmless and a bit cute, but it barely clears a very low bar.
A Dog’s Perfect Christmas is now streaming on Netflix.