Christmas with Tucker (2013)
While coming to terms with his dad's recent passing in a tractor accident, 13-year-old George McCray is living with his grandparents on their Kansas farm. George misses his mom, Jill, who has moved to Minnesota to deal with her grief, but there is the promise of their reunion at Christmas. George feels needed on the farm as he helps his grateful grandfather Bo with daily chores and comforts his grandmother Cora. He has also made friends with Mary Ann and became attached to Tucker, the smart and friendly dog the McCrays take in when his troubled owner Frank Thorne lands in jail.
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What a waste of my time!!!
Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.
Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.
Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.
I Have Reviewed OVER 400 Christmas MOVIES. On all Christmas movies BEWARE OF FAKE REVIEWS & REVIEWERS. Many reviewers have only have ONE REVIEW. When it's a POSITIVE REVIEW chances are that the reviewer was involved with the production. If its a negative review then they may have a huge grudge against the film for whatever reason. I am fare about these films. The only reason why I review them is to keep track of what "I have seen". In this film the events follow a boy months following his father's death, a boy learns about responsibility, the loyalty of friends and the power of love through his bond with a special dog.This film is very pleasant. It has a huge heart. The main theme of this film is "Adjusting" and "Tucker" is a catalyst for love and opening up. The Grandpa in this film also happens to remind of my dad. (Which is good). I also love the fact that "KIndness in return" has its rewards. I was surprised how much I liked this film. IF you love dogs this is a must see.
Christmas with Tucker is supposed to be a prequel to A Dog Named Christmas which itself was adapted into a Hallmark Hall of Fame film back in 2009. I haven't actually read the books these films were based off, so I can't actually compare them, but I can compare the two films.In A Dog Named Christmas, there was a brief flashback involving the farmer's youth days with Tucker that took place around the 1940s. Here in Christmas with Tucker, those youth days are in the current time setting which was 2013. In other words, this film has continuity errors.Honestly, Christmas with Tucker was a So-So Hallmark Christmas film and one of my least favorite Christmas films made by the company. The only good thing I love about it was the great acting by the actors involved with the film, especially Barbara Gordon as the grandmother. If the film's story and most of the characters were given improvements, this would've been a great Christmas film. If I had to choose between this and A Dog Named Christmas, I'll stick with A Dog Named Christmas. I also consider this another Christmas film from Hallmark to watch only once.
I was truly enjoying this movie about a young boy visiting his grandfather's dairy farm for Christmas. The grandson named George fell in love with his grandfather's friend's dog and they bonded.The boy made a trade with the grandfather's drunken friend to save the dog from abuse. He did not know that the trade would be harmful to the owner. George's grandfather made him give back the dog to this mean man because of what was traded. Earlier the dog nearly died being left out in the cold all night with no dog house and the grandfather knew this. How could the grandfather make his grandson give back the dog to this abuser??? Why didn't the grandfather tell the mean friend to keep his end of the deal instead of punishing the grandson and the dog? The movie was lovely and heartwarming up to this point. After that I was disheartened with the movie. The grandfather is telling his grandson to have character in life and here he is giving back a dog to be abused again and even killed. How could Hallmark not see how cruel this was? This ruined the movie for me. I gave it a 5 rating because of the excellent acting alone.
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.