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"A DOG NAMED CHRISTMAS"  "A Dog Named Christmas" will be telecast Sunday, Nov. 29, 9-11 PM on most CBS stations. Check your local TV Guide for time and stations in your area. |
CBS and Hallmark team up
for another holiday classic
of TheColumnists.com
Too many network television holiday movies wallow in so much sentimental claptrap that it really puts you off sitting through the latest offerings in that realm. But I keep taking the risk because I remember the really great ones that turn up every now and then.
In fact, in my very first year as a nationally syndicated TV columnist--1977--I saw one of the truly great ones: ABC's "The Gathering," which boasted a marvelous cast that included Ed Asner, Maureen Stapleton, Bruce Davison, Veronica Hamel, Gregory Harrison and Stephanie Zimbalist. I still remember that one fondly.
There were a precious few more to come over the next three decades. And now, 32 years later, I'm happy to alert you to another great one--CBS' "A Dog Named Christmas," based on the popular 2008 novel by Greg Kincaid. It comes under the banner of The Hallmark Hall of Fame and is absolutely guaranteed to warm your heart as we head into the holiday season.
It's about a Vietnam veteran who reluctantly agrees to let his hard-working, but intellectually-challenged 20-year-old son bring home a dog from the local animal shelter just for the Christmas holidays. The father has a real problem with dogs because of the grief he endured when he was severely wounded during the war and lost the stray dog he'd taken under his wing in the combat zone.
In his heart, he believes that his son, Todd, shouldn't have a dog because he's going to be too emotionally damaged when the day comes that the dog either dies or runs away. When his son finally promises to return the shelter dog the day after Christmas as a condition of their "agreement," the father gives his grudging approval.
It's a simple story that's really about the rehabilitation of the emotionally-damaged father, not the maturing of the handicapped son. And, at the center of it, is a most remarkable dog--a yellow Labrador retriever that the son decides to call "Christmas."
Playing the father is one of Hollywood's exceptional character actors--Bruce Greenwood, a Canadian-born actor who first attracted major attention in the 1980s when he played Dr. Seth Griffin in NBC's "St. Elsewhere" series. Though handsome enough to be a leading man, Greenwood has turned his career in the direction of character parts and has become a very reliable one. He's coming off a very well-liked performance as Capt. Christopher Pike in the new "Star Trek" movie, so I'd say 2009 is a red letter year for him since I think his work in "A Dog Called Christmas" is the best performance I've ever seen him give.
The only time I've ever spent any one-on-one time with Greenwood was when he was playing Dennis Wilson in the TV movie "Summer Dreams: The Beach Boys Story" in 1990. At that time, he made it clear he was attracted to character parts and he did such a good job in that role that I've been watching him grow with each role ever since.
In "A Dog Called Christmas," he has to show his emotion almost solely with facial expressions and body movement because the man he plays, rancher George McCray, is a taciturn sort of person who holds everything in. Yet Greenwood is so good at doing this that you constantly are seeing more to the man than his dialogue reveals.
He gets very strong support from Noel Fisher as his struggling son and from Linda Emond, who plays his wife, a strong supporter of her husband, but one who is starting to feel his rigid notions about things are going to be more harmful than protective of their son.
Hallmark movies always have a superior look and this one is no exception. Director Peter Werner, one of TV's best, has delivered a very strong picture that looks much more like a feature for theaters than for television. Where it might get too syrupy, Werner and the cast keep things real and in balance, giving us that rare TV item--a Christmas dog movie that lifts your spirits, but doesn't use up all the Kleenex you have in the house.
But I may as well warn you that I'm a dog-lover, so I might have enjoyed the picture just for the lively presence of the frisky Lab who plays the title role. Our family dog, Samantha, seemed to like the picture even better than I did because she kept her nose on the screen for virtually the whole thing and gave it "four tail wags" when I asked for her review. In dog language, that's "real good."
©2009 by Ron Miller. The photo is courtesy of Hallmark Hall of Fame. This column first posted Nov. 23, 2009.
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