Tails of Christmas

I actually watched this a month ago, but I held off reviewing. Then I saw all the tens and thought I had the wrong movie.

No mistake.

Well, we're all entitled to our opinion. Mine is this movie is barely a five.

It stars Ash Tsai as a young woman who operates an animal shelter, and Eric Guilmette as an embittered veteran who begins volunteering there.

There's not a great deal of story here, but it is, unfortunately, one of those GAC movies in which the actors are stiff, wooden and amateurish...at times painfully so.

You really have to be able to get past that to watch some of these. Clearly several people did.

I can understand that. Ash Tsai was in another movie last year I gave a similar review and doubted I would watch it again. But I was wrong. I did watch it.

I don't see an Academy Award in her future, but she does have an appeal that's hard to describe, and an ever-present sweet smile that makes it ok that she's not yet a great actress.

Guilmmette was much the same. I have seen worse actors refine their craft and become very good, so I will hold out hope for both of them.

All in all not the best year for the Christmas movies, but GAC is getting there. In fact, I think I liked them better than Hallmark this year. First time for everything.

Absolutely LOVED this story and how it evolved! The story begins at the moment the future sweethearts meet and follows the journey of how they figure out that they are in love with each other. Cute, realistic, Christmas but not Christmas crazy, and extremely realistic to how "real life love" transpires. Eric and Ash do a fantastic job making their characters come to life--- refreshing to see young actors and actresses who are so talented and able to capture the hearts of the audience! The supporting cast is fabulous as well! Cannot go wrong spending your time watching this heartwarming and realistic movie. And Kuddos to "real faith" interplayed throughout--- ABSOLUTELY REFRESHING!

The good: promoted shelter adoptions, and how taking the focus off yourself and helping others (including dogs and cats) help make you happier and cures loneliness. Story was well written, and flowed well.

The bad: only showed fluffy purebreds that look like they literally stepped out of fancy dog shows. I love that they promoted adoption, but wish they had shown actual lovable shelter dogs. While there are purebreds in shelters, you much more commonly see terrier breeds. Seniors, black dogs, and cats, Heinz 57s-- all who are just as adorable and lovable and need homes the most.

And as everyone else mentioned, while the actors were attractive and likable enough, they were not good actors. Not by a long stretch. It was watchable only because they seemed pleasant, but lacked any sort of emotion or acting abilities.

Conclusion: I had to give it a higher grade because I love any movie that features animals and presents the idea of adopting an animal from a shelter. This movie's writers's heart was in the right place.

Merry Christmas!

We were looking for a happy, sappy Christmas movie as an escape from our maniacal daily lives. Tails of Christmas had so much promise. A great storyline, a production under the Great American Family banner, wonderful cinematography/stage-direction, well-done background music, good-looking actors, DOGS! What could possibly go wrong?

The acting. That's what went wrong. We've seen better acting in middle-school plays. We didn't make it past the 30-minute mark, it was so cringe-worthy. A shame, really, because we've seen some really well-done GAF Christmas movies this 2024 season. GAF made the mistake of deploying nearly an entire pretty-faced rookie cast on Tails of Christmas that otherwise would've been great with some seasoned actors.

Also, if you want to do a movie with "shelter" dogs, you've got to show the dogs in the shelter barking/going crazy, not sitting there like perfect angels. There are ways to direct around that type of realistic chaos.

I loved the movie and the backdrop of a rescue organization. I also loved the chemistry of Ash Tsai and Eric Guilmette. Very wholesome story where the lead seems so sweet. I love all the sweaters.

The other actors were also believable but had limited lines. Most of the dialogue is with the romantic couple.

The well behaved retriever was really adorable and a very good actor. The other pets also performed well. The script could have included more pets and that would have been fun. Everyone loves a dog video and a dog in a movie doing funny things is definitely a way to make things go viral. Bad dogs can be fun.