This is a little
bit strange, but as I prepared to review this typically overly-saccharine
holiday film involving a dog I couldn’t help but notice that star Dean Cain has
a longstanding relationship with both holiday and canine-themed family films.
Along with this film, Cain has many other holiday films on his resume,
including A Christmas Wedding (2006),
A Nanny for Christmas (2010), The Case for Christmas (2011), Merry ExMas (2014), Small Town Santa (2014), Defending
Santa (2014).
The dog film is just as popular in his filmography, including
a long-running franchise involving a dog that saves every holiday, including
Christmas three times over. These
include The Dog Who Saved Christmas
(2009), The Dog Who Saved Christmas
Vacation (2010), The Dog Who Saved
the Holidays (2012), The Dog Who
Saved Halloween (2011), The Dog Who
Saved Easter (2014), and The Three
Dogateers (2014), among others. And that isn’t the end. In 2015 he is
slated to be in two holiday-themed films (Beverly
Hills Christmas and My Last Christmas),
not to mention another production in the works with the vaguely familiar title
of A Dog for Christmas.
The reason I mention all of these sappy
straight-to-DVD family films is because of how easily A Belle for Christmas slips into the routine already established.
There are no surprises in this film, from the expected over-acting to the
obligatory forced sentimentality and predictable happy ending. Not even a cute
dog can save this film from the acting done by Kristy Swanson and Haylie Duff.
Even the child actors and the dog come out looking better than some of the
adult cast, but this is just further evidence as to who the target audience
truly is.
This time around (and several times
before), Cain plays a single father during the holidays. Glenn Barrows is a
recent widower with two young children, Elliot (Jet Jurgensmeyer) and Phoebe
(Meyrick Murphy). These kids miss their mother even more when their father
begins dating a superficial new girlfriend (Swanson). This sadness is filled
slightly with the adoption of a new pet, though an allergy immediately makes an
enemy out of the new dog-hating girlfriend. Fortunately, the woman that the
children adopted Belle from (played by Duff) also happens to be a kind alternative
for romantic replacement.
The story is predictable, sappy and
cartoonish in its attempts at humor, making A
Belle for Christmas entertainment suited only for younger audiences. I
suppose there needs to be something to fill the holiday air-time for those
stations who couldn’t afford to buy the rights to any of the classic holiday
films, as this feels like nothing more than filler entertainment. The DVD is
understandably sparse in terms of extras.
Entertainment Value:
2/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 1/10
Historical
Significance: 3/10
Special Features: 0/10
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