Fantastic!

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Disregard 6 of the 7 bad reviews on this movie. It was an excellent movie with excellent characters and story. Story was based on a book which gives the movie some depth. I only give about 10% of the movies a perfect 10, but this one had that special quality.James Brolin at age 73 as the grandpa. It was just perfect. He played in Marcus Welby at about age 30. In 2016 he was in "I'll be home for Christmas". In this film he has that tough John Wayne presence. At the end of the film a great confrontation with a bad guy- great drama. The grandson was excellent and was the main character with his affection for Tucker the dog. The grandma actually played the grandma on "The Road to Christmas" 2006. She was great in this role, so pleasant. The friend was played by Olivia from Heartland. We also see Dr Crane and Dr Hebert from Doc.This movie had that special bond between boy and dog as well as proud grandparents. The story showed how the boy was building character. In one part the grandpa told him he had to give up Tucker. Now that was a complete surprise, but the drama was intense. Definitely worth the watch.

I enjoyed this movie. The other reviewer(s) who said the grandfather made the boy give the dog back to a man who was going to leave the dog out in the cold to die could not have watched the whole movie. The dog owner was NEVER going to leave the dog out in the cold to die, and the grandfather knew that. The dog was well-fed and healthy, and the owner didn't interact with him much or play with him or seemingly care much about him, but when the boy went to check on the owner after a snowstorm, the dog was indoors. Left outside to die? No. The dog was indoors. The grandfather was telling the boy he couldn't take someone else's dog just because the dog stayed outside in a fenced yard a lot of time. The grandfather was correct. The boy used his initiative to convince the man to sell him the dog instead.

I agree wholeheartedly with the viewer about the grandfather ordering the boy to give the dog back to man who had left him out in the cold to die. My husband looked at each other in astonishment when he did that, because in his attempt to teach the boy a lesson, he neglected to take into consideration the well being of the poor dog. And James Brolin's acting in this movie was very stiff, IMO. The most emoting he did was when he yelled at the guy who threatened the boy, which was yet another ridiculous scene. I can't imagine such a thug suddenly backing down like he was scared of an old grandfather. I really liked the rapport between the 2 kids, George & Marianne. Other than the problems mentioned above, it is the usual nice little Hallmark family movie. Not the best I've seen, but I would recommend it.

This is a typical Hallmark movie but with a high sap level. Story is OK but fairly predictable. I did watch the whole movie, but wasn't much impressed with the acting. Best actor was "Tucker".The story is basically a 10 year retrospective look at the way the dog "Tucker" came to be part of the McCray family at Christmastime; hence the title for the movie.The writing and acting for this film was, in my opinion, much below the quality of a far better Hallmark presentation such as any of the "Good Witch" movies. I've come to expect a certain degree of sappiness in any of the Hallmark movies, but this movie was a little over the top. On the plus side, like all Hallmark movies, its a wholesome family film with a positive message to share.