User reviews

I understand that ION Christmas movies can be a little darker and more adult-themed than the typical G-rated Hallmark fare, but this film was too over the top for me.

My main problem is with the lead role. She comes across as snide, condescending, and spiteful throughout them film. While a few of her comments seem to be on-target at first - with her so-called friends well deserving of her scorn - after a while it just becomes boring with the relentless tirade of insults.

But she isn't the only problem. It was really hard to relate to any of the other supporting characters in this film at all. They all just seemed so trite and phony.

The only good moments are the pitifully few scenes of the puppies being delivered to their new owners. But this takes up hardly any screen time at all. The rest of the film just meanders through relentless scenes of mean-spiritedness and cynicism, where the viewer is jarred by alternating scenes of tenderness and downright hostility.

Eventually, there is some resolution, but it is not convincing and the character remains vindictive almost to the very end. The film just can't seem to overcome the lead character's extreme unpleasantness.

Overall, there is air of cruelty and cynicism that pervades, decidedly not what these Holiday-themed should be all about.

I love holiday movies and get used to the redundant story lines but here the acting was just too painful to watch.

A canine therapist moves to Silicon Valley to work for a GPS tracking company after her boyfriend cheats on her. New boss gives her 12 puppies to re-home before Christmas.

Okay in theory, but Erin is an atrocious character. She claims to be a therapist, but she's rude and lacks compassion. She's truly the hag that steals all joy from the movie. The real problem? The movie doesn't seem to notice how awful she is. The boss even tells her how much she has helped him understand his company and taught him humility!

The continuity is also pretty poor. The dogs pop up and disappear without explanation. Overall the puppy plot goes practically nowhere, another letdown.

This was abysmal, even for a Hallmark movie. Nothing about it makes sense. Why is a man who's smooth enough to have six girlfriends too cowardly to break up with one? Why does a rich CEO whose dad is willing to hand him a pile of money at the drop of a hat think he's in financial danger? Why does a CEO who has a home in Silicon Valley and a penthouse in NYC seem completely unfamiliar with the concept of flying? Why was an entire staff of tech professionals unable to come up with the idea to "make this product smaller"? Why does the lead actress have more chemistry with any woman on screen than with the male lead? Why did the screenwriter think Animal Track is an amazing app name? (At least give me a Pooch Ping or a Critter Getter) Why is there a montage of two people doing literally nothing? Why are people riding jetskis in the Hudson River in December?

I just kept thinking "I don't like this woman, shouldn't the main character be likable?" The males are all jerks and the women are not much better. The whole movie is so negative. The only decent character is the sister and her character makes little sense. Why would she hire a canine therapist? In fact the whole movie makes no real sense. The dogs are cute and the sister is a normal human, That is the only pleasantry about it.

So my wife has me watching Hallmark Christmas movies and see how these movies go. When she says that ION Television has Christmas movies. So pups and Christmas,how could a network screw up this movie. They did; it might have pups in the movie and some decorations on houses and one small party around Christmas time. But more about a company going through a tough time and some very bad acting from Charlotte Sullivan, she was better in Rookie Blue (she was bad in that too). This truly is not a Christmas movie. Let the Hallmark Channel show you how to do a proper Christmas movie.

The lead is honestly a witch. It hurts my heart that ION would air a movie that portrays women like this.

I love Hallmark & Hallmark-esque movies, which should tell you I can tolerate some absolute nonsense, but this has got to be one of the worst movies ever made. Its such a stinker, it makes the average Hallmark movie look like Oscar bait.

The lead actress does actual Joey Tribbiani "smell the fart" acting and the plot has so many holes you could grate cheese with it.

I was so incensed by how bad this movie was, I restarted my IMDB account just to leave this review. Learn from my mistakes and avoid this like the plague.

OK, there are so many things wrong with this movie from a business point of view that yes, it does seem like a grade school kid wrote it. So either forget about any realism or don't watch it.

I recently watched 6 seasons of Rookie Blue in about 2 months, so I came into this movie with a strong preconception of Charlotte Sullivan. The character I already knew, Gail, is not a people person. She's grumpy. She doesn't have a good filter on the things she says. At the beginning of the movie, Erin bears a strong resemblance to Gail. It was difficult for me to see anyone different (despite the hair color difference). It's not that Erin doesn't have reasons for her attitude but she never warms up.

This story is not the usual Christmas romance. For one thing, it doesn't have all the usual Christmas things, like baking cookies. That might even be a good thing. For another, the romance seems secondary to all the other things going on, at least in the first half. There's Erin's maybe-ex-best-friend who stole her fiancé on their wedding day who then shows up across the country at her new home. Erin, the brand new employee has to save the company she just joined. And there's the puppies. The director actually uses the dogs well.

There is a lot of awkward dialogue and there are a lot of awkward situations. Some of them turn out to be funny, but a lot of them are just awkward. There's even an awkward backstory about Martin. It doesn't really make sense and it's poorly told.

Much of the outcome is predictable, but getting there at the end is unexpected in several ways. The investor angle is unexpected. It is both funny and just as ridiculous as what I talked about in the first paragraph.

I loved and hated this movie. I would have liked to see a more likeable personality in Erin. I would have like to have seen more (any?) chemistry between Sullivan and Donny Boaz. I cringed at a lot of the awkwardness. But there were so many unusual things in the movie. I was at the edge of my seat a little waiting to see if a certain thing was revealed at the end - I was totally wrong about it.

I have never hated a character/actress more than the lead in this movie. She is completely miserable. Her character is bitter the entire movie. The acting is horrible.

In one part she talks about how she's upset the company owner doesn't give her credit and then immediately after says she can't help him at a meeting because she's "just a therapist." She also keeps calling him a jerk when he's literally done nothing jerky.

Let's not forget in the beginning of the movie she's talking to someone about how it's "30 degrees out" but everyone in the background is wearing t shirts.

Movie is trash. Not even worth watching for the pups since they're only in it for about 5 minutes.

Name of the movie should be change to "12 days of trash"

Came to this movie from the recommendations of one of my favourite film review channels, MovieBitches on YouTube, and I must say: This film is completely insane. If you enjoy anything from production disaster classics a la Showgirls and The Room, or whatever it is that Vanessa Hudgens is doing in that blonde wig in the Princess Switch movies, you have to experience this film.

Charlotte Sullivan stars as a canine therapist who seems to be both an oblivious mannequin come to life exporing the human world for the very first time, AND a synical 4th wall breaking actress who keeps pointing out the wholes in the script she herself is helping to poke. None of this movie makes any type of sense, and the information given about dog ownership, canine psychology, human psychology, modern technology and how any tech company works is all utter bogus. The dialogue is awful to the point of seeming like first-take improv, or somebody freeflow writing lines that needed to be cleaned up later but got stolen by a gremlin working under Michael Feifer, who then dropped the editing notes for his upcoming psychological horror film and got the two mixed up.

Truly the christmas film of the century, will be viewing again yearly. Worst ADR I've seen in years. Worst performances given perhaps ever. Worst CGI plane. Worst abandoned plot device, which happens to be the title of the movie so HOW CAN YOU ABANDON IT??? Thank you 12 Pups of Christmas, or giving me the christmas laugh I know I deserve. Never change, you stupid, stupid movie.

Wow these reviews are downright hostile and I am a bit puzzled. It may be because I actually worked in high tech and found this a lot closer to reality than most Hallmark/Lifetime movies that feature rail thin bleached blonde wedding/event planners (do they actually exist outside of HallmarkLand?).

Yes the lead character is a bit cynical like many humans that have an IQ above 50. The dialog in this movie is much more realistic than the Hallmark style bubbly yammering that generally puts me to sleep.

So unlike others here I found this movie watchable. I was expecting much worse with Puppies in the title. Not academy award material but as these holiday movies go I claim it is above average.

This movie stereotypes the main character as a woman that can't be made happy. It is obviously written/directed by a man that has had a terrible relationship. It was painful but my dogs enjoyed it.

This is awful! Most of the reviews here are blaming Charlotte Sullivan for the failure of this movie but I disagree. It was horribly written, carelessly filmed as if there was only 1 shot per scene and it was take it or leave it. It's so poorly edited to make the actors look terrible at times and leaves unfinished story lines like how the Sister knows more than she claims about a total stranger. Not to mention on what is supposed to be December 23 in Manhattan, there are jet skis almost prominent in the scene but who's riders would be dead in minutes at that time of year, people in shorts and short sleeves everywhere in some shots, I could go on. No actor, no matter how good, could've saved this disaster. Funny thing is, this could have been a cute movie with it's current cast with better leadership, the failure here came from above the cast. Don't make a drinking game out of pointing out the flaws as you watch, your party goers would be dead before the end.

I saw this movie a couple of years ago and hated it. I noticed it on today so I thought I would give it another chance. Ihave to say it was just as absolutely terrible as I remembered. The female lead is totally unlikable. Even when something bad happened I had no sympathy for her. She was sarcastic, snarky, condescending and just plain mean. Most of the other actors looked bored and I can't really blame them because I was too.

Words fail me to describe the dialogue, just like they appear to have failed the writers when they wrote the script. I have no idea what tone they were going for.

The only good thing was the dogs but they weren't given enough screen time.

TheSTORY-0.25

Oh dear, we're dredging the bottom of the barrel with this bunkum.

Firstly, how can a second rate animal shrink become the managing CEO of a company in a few days? Unbelievable.

Secondly, how can two people so different and unlikeable come together. They shouldn't and if they do it won't end well.

Thirdly, why call this the 12 Pups Of Christmas when the poor young doggies are only in the film and story for a few minutes? Because it's a Christmas hook to get the viewers watching their drivel.

On top of that, the story is so badly written and constructed that I feel it was written by a three-year-old and transcribed onto paper by a hundred chimpanzees... should have paid for a million chimps.

theDIRECTION-0.5

This is marginally better than the writing, though it does appear the big brother took over the camera work. Though in today's media-driven life I reckon a five-year-old may have done a better job.

This is very amateurish. Point and shoot. There's hardly any composition throughout the movie and the angles are bog-standard,

I'm not sure that the director, Michael Feifer who wrote this hogwash, had an actual conception of what he wanted his story or film to be.

theTEMPO-0.75

Okay, so at least the film trips along at a quickened pace it's a shame the story is so heavy it slows the whole thing down.

theACTING-0.5

Oh dear me. Most of the actresses and actors look like they want to be someplace else. That is except for the over bubbly Elizabeth Small as Carly. I have to give her credit that when called upon to act she acts. Shame the others didn't take a leaf out of her book.

theGRATIFICATION-0.5

There are so many ways this film could have been better. For example, use the 12 Pups to build up a stronger and deeper storyline. This could be done by giving the audience the background of the recipients to pull heartstrings and add a warm atmosphere.

But it's not that good so I cannot recommend this film to anyone, except those wannabe directors and writers - this is how not to make a film or write a story.

This is one to miss every Christmastime.

theSCORE-2.5

Come on over and see where this film ranked on my Ho! Ho! Ho! Christmas Belles list.

I absolutely love the lead, she worked with the script best she could and made the film really fun in a fever dream kind of way. Best line: "We can take the components of a cell phone and spread them out over the course of a dog collar.

I have never written a review before for any movie but this was so bad I had to activate my IMDb account just to write one. I've sat through some of the worst movies and was able to tolerate them. Not this one. I live for these movies cause they are so wholesome and happy, this was not it.

To start the acting is terrible, the lead makes you hate dog people. I AM A DOG PERSON. She is sarcastic in a mean and cringy way. Not in that fun quirky way. She also shows no real emotion. The supporting actors suck and there is no chemistry between the two leads.

The writing stinks. My dog could have written a better movie. I'm trying to figure out who funded this. How do you make a movie staring 12 puppies this bad?!?

For being a cheesy Christmas movie it didn't meet any of the requirements. There was no real character development, no good central theme or lesson and no characters that you fall in love with despite the cheesy storyline and writing.

I know what you're thinking, another really bad Christmas movie, and yeah it's pretty terrible, but the acting is so bizarre it's hilarious. The lead actress is astonishingly bad, her facial expressions alone are some of the weirdest acting choices I've ever seen. I totally thought the twist would be that she was actually a ghost or an elf, cause she doesn't talk or act human at all, but part of that may have to do with the really odd script.

Don't expect this to be a Christmas classic, warm fuzzy, adorable feel good movie, but do expect to cackle all the way through.

I am sure this will end up becoming a cult classic with fans of absolutely bad cinema.

This movie was steaming hot garbage. I found myself laughing hysterically at how illogical this was. The writers had to actively trying to make a trash movies. The actors did ok with what they were given, the one star is for them. None for you, Michael!!

I loved Charlotte Sullivan on Chicago Fire but on here she is a complete monster. She's so hateful and mean. Horrible character. Just WHY??? You've got Martin acting like a bumbling idiot. WTH????

Someone that passive aggressive should never be a therapist - doggie or otherwise! Main character was a complete jerk, but she has a soft voice and her boyfriend cheated on her, so apparently we're supposed to feel sorry for her and ignore how passive aggressive and rude she is. Why would her friend even want to be near someone like that?? She is so unlikeable I couldn't finish

Also, she is a freaking DOG THERAPIST and she is supposed to singlehandedly save an entire company?

This movie is terrible. Unique idea, cute dogs, gets it the two stars. Don't waste your time.