User reviews

I am most of the time able to find some positive things to say about a film but regarding this "mystery" the only thing i can think of, and then i were forced to think both hard and long, were and is the great Christmas decorations in houses, shops, boats and on people ( the great knitted Christmas sweaters......in L.A ). The story is blend, colorless and flat. When it comes to the acting it is totally one dimensional, absolutely zero depth in the characters. And that actually makes me sad when the actors personality actually shines thru so much and the seem like very nice people, so i can imagine the set must have been just a delight and a wonderful time for all. To bad that the director did not have the skill to use that dynamic. It was like looking at the nicest of people, trying the best they possibly could with a script made for a middle school nativity play and directions given a prison chain gang.

Did I miss something?? The hero (and sometimes, the heroine) carries small dog, Murray I think, with him everywhere for maybe 45 minutes of the film. Then the 2 humans leave the bed and breakfast to pursue leads. The night before, the guy slept in car, dog stayed with her due to suspicious landlord and apparent break-in. But when they leave, no mention of dog he always keeps with him. They left little Murray with a dwindling bag of dry dog food in the place that had been broken into? Did Murray demand a bigger salary? Did actors, producer, director, even dog's real owner, forget the little guy? But whew. At the 'tail' end, they're all together celebrating Christmas. Murray is quietly sitting on the sofa. Did he hitchhike back?? We just don't know. Signed, Friend of Murray

Just watched this movie ; I had to write review and warn others. Worst TV movie I've ever seen and I've seen a lot of TV movies in 60 years! This girl can NOT act ! Truly a waste of film.

Horrible! Don't waste your time ! Weak story but plausible. Where did this actress come from? Really bad!

Who thought this movie was good? I mean, Really? I doubt it will ever replay on TV! Maybe she needed to fulfill contract or something. No emotion whatsoever . A score of 1 is way too much. It was like a bad dream. Can't believe they would produce this. Be warned! Even the ending was bad!

Agree with the reviews who say Esme did a very poor job of acting. If you turn off the sound and just look at her expressions she has awful body language, her speech is forced and her facial expressions look like she is perpetually annoyed. I think being British she just could not pull off the North American accent so it ruined her acting even more. The actor who played the PI was much more believable and acted like a normal guy. Unfortunately these Hallmark-esque movies always look Hallmark-esque and amateurish. Maybe it's the music and the script. I always hope for the best but am sorely disappointed.

Ummm, maybe because the address was on the stack of Christmas cards you gave him?

I had to turn it off at that point. It's just dreadful.

I'm sorry that I never got to see Murray the dog. It sounds like he was the highlight of the show.

On the positive side, I'll say this is a different kind of story for a "Christmas" romance movie. It's actually a mix of romance and mystery with criminal implications.

The acting is poor. Esmé Bianco is totally flat. Ryan Bittle tries to hard. Their chemistry is forced, so not really any. Much of the dialogue is bland.

The story does some cliché things and some stupid things. Mystery phone calls by the partner. All the scenes of someone hiding in shadows and following the heroes. Tough guy in prison who overacts badly. A romance that develops out of nothing, except maybe bonding over the shared danger. Oh, and the cute anagram.

The whole chase seems a little unnecessary. The bad guy would have been better off leaving everything as is.

Where did the dog go? Simple. The writers didn't need him after he caused the clerk to sneeze at unfortunate times.

Did anyone not guess who Jack is?

The only tie to Christmas is some Christmas cards.

So although yes it's a tv movie and maybe s little cheesy dialogue at times, I think it's wayy better then the reviews are giving it. The characters are likeable, plot believable, and casting)scenery not bad. There's good chemistry between the two main characters and acting could be a lot worse. Overall would say it's worth watching..

Where did Murray the dog go ?? Best part of the movie . He had a small bag of product placement dog food and no water dish . Poor Murray .He was adorable 🐾🐾🐾🐾 the rest of the movie ...meh

She is the worst actress in the world😭 and what happen with the dog ,where they live him.

Couldn't watch the whole thing. Didn't find either lead very likeable. When the post office employee started letting them root through old unclaimed mail, I gave up.

Esme cannot act! One of the worst, flat, uninspired, horrendous jobs of "acting" I've ever been unfortunate to experience. I couldn't even finish watching it! To hook the viewer, you need characters that you can cheer for. I strongly disliked the female protagonist from the very first scene. When I found that I not only did not care how she fared, that I actively wished someone would smack that snotty act off her smug face, I turned the movie off. Who the heck ever called this woman an ACTOR???

This story is convoluted and implausible. The acting is appallingly bad- especially the lead actress, who has some kind of weird accent that's explained away by her having been sent to school in England. She confuses petulant rudeness with hard nosed interviewing and is utterly clueless for a supposedly brilliant investigative journalist. The writers clearly know nothing about newspapers, law enforcement, the law or logic because the story is lacking in credibility and clunky dialogue.

The lead male is slightly better at acting, but the attempts to channel Sherlock Holmes observational brilliance is cringe worthy and utterly implausible.

The older guy they hunt has a most irritating speech impediment - probably caused by dentures that don't fit well.

The dog is cute, but the writers are so lazy they have a cocker spaniel (hair, not fur) causing someone to have an allergic reaction that would only happen in real life if the person had buried his face into the dog's body. I know this because I am allergic to fur dogs and sneeze around them, but my own cocker spaniel and other hair dogs (the ones that need to go to the groomer frequently) do not bothered at all.

Lazy writing, clunky acting, poor direction.

Someone gave a review that they didn't know where the dog disappeared to. Evidently, they didn't watch to the end of the movie. I love this movie it show heart, compassion, and not your usual holiday movie. The only reason I give this an 8 was because it wasn't like a Martin Scorsese movie or a huge masterpiece. However, it is truly enjoyable with just the right amount of each component. There was a few discrepancies but they weren't really too obvious.