"A Dowalker's Christmas Tale" is your standard Hallmark channel-style holiday romance film. In this version of the story, the heroine, Luce, is a naive college student who befriends a handsome vet student at a local dog park.
The film's script sets the story up well. Luce begins the film by buying a present for her "boyfriend" who doesn't know that he is in a relationship with her. He isn't a bad guy as much as a dude who enjoys women with more substance. Substance becomes a recurring theme in the film. Luce has to get some of that!
Which she does by joining with Mr. Hot Guy and friends to influence a local business developer from ceasing to demolish the dog park and building a day spa. This plot point doesn't work well because the dog park is an empty field with some park benches. You just have to accept that it is a special place. The televisual flat shots of the actors give no depth to the place. We never get to see all of it in one shot.
With a film like this, the only hope is that the actors elevate the material. Thankfully, Lexi Giovagnoli is a chipper actor who brings a lot of energy to the role. She is also close in age to the college student she portrays. We can believe that she would be unable to see that her first boyfriend isn't a boyfriend. The script at least develops her character so she doesn't jump into her next, real relationship immediately. She is a little less trusting of Mr. Hot Guy at first.
None of the women are horrible to each other. Even the roommate who dates Luce's ex isn't a witch. Perhaps this is a requirement of a Hallmark holiday script; it's an issue a lot of mainstream romance movies have.
The other actors don't bring much to the film. They are serviceable in the roles they have. You may recognize Mr. Hot Guy as Jon Bennett from Mean Girls. He is the same sympathetic love object he was there. He isn't asked to do much but neither is the viewer.
The film's script sets the story up well. Luce begins the film by buying a present for her "boyfriend" who doesn't know that he is in a relationship with her. He isn't a bad guy as much as a dude who enjoys women with more substance. Substance becomes a recurring theme in the film. Luce has to get some of that!
Which she does by joining with Mr. Hot Guy and friends to influence a local business developer from ceasing to demolish the dog park and building a day spa. This plot point doesn't work well because the dog park is an empty field with some park benches. You just have to accept that it is a special place. The televisual flat shots of the actors give no depth to the place. We never get to see all of it in one shot.
With a film like this, the only hope is that the actors elevate the material. Thankfully, Lexi Giovagnoli is a chipper actor who brings a lot of energy to the role. She is also close in age to the college student she portrays. We can believe that she would be unable to see that her first boyfriend isn't a boyfriend. The script at least develops her character so she doesn't jump into her next, real relationship immediately. She is a little less trusting of Mr. Hot Guy at first.
None of the women are horrible to each other. Even the roommate who dates Luce's ex isn't a witch. Perhaps this is a requirement of a Hallmark holiday script; it's an issue a lot of mainstream romance movies have.
The other actors don't bring much to the film. They are serviceable in the roles they have. You may recognize Mr. Hot Guy as Jon Bennett from Mean Girls. He is the same sympathetic love object he was there. He isn't asked to do much but neither is the viewer.