For the Love of a Dog (2007) User Reviews

Average acting but bags of heart

[yorkshire_keith · 6/10 · 12 September 2009]

I'd probably have to agree that the acting in this movie isn't the best I've ever seen. Whether that's down to all the actors apart from Sherman Hemsley and Rhonda Leigh being nervous, inexperienced or off colour: or average direction I don't really know. The conversations were a bit stilted. No two people ever seem to speak at the same time. But that did help my six year old to be up with the story at all times whereas with some of the modern style more realistic films she has to constantly ask me why this and that happened, so "every cloud.." as they say.

Mr O'Donnels "road to Damascus moment" is a bit easily accomplished to my mind.

The dog ( don't know if it was Orbit or Orion that did the particular scene ) doesn't do Ill that well either and looked fairly full of beans when diving into the pool to try and save the little girl,

Never the less, these minor gripes aside, it's a nice enough story and as you might expect won't keep your kids awake crying all night

Bad Acting

[Technotrauma · 1/10 · 8 June 2009]

Good story. But the horrible acting kind of ruined it.

Sherman Hemsley was the only believable person in the movie.

The rest of the people just weren't good.

You could tell they were all inexperienced. None of the conversations in the movie were convincing. It was almost like watching a school play.

I found myself getting annoyed with the actors.

However, the if the acting had been better, this would have been a cute movie. The storyline was very sweet. And anyone who has a dog that's like part of their family would probably have enjoyed the story.

If you're like me and think the acting in the movie is a VERY important part of the movie, then this film isn't for you. At all.

Terrible acting and Directing

[sbest-565-707728 · 1/10 · 26 October 2009]

Sorry but the acting and Direction in this film made me squirm and cringe through the whole movie and I hate to say that. I can't believe this was on the 6 $ overnight shelf in the DVD store. The storyline is sweet and should have made a great story for the whole family but it was just plain terrible acting and direction. The scene near the end when the dog jumped into the pool was that bad my 9 year old daughter just turned and looked at me and laughed and said does this seem weird to you. I hope they can learn from this and get better but it had the EDWOOD feel to the whole thing. I think the editing could have been to blame as well for a lot of terrible scenes where nothing flowed at all and like another person said .I don't think 2 people actually talked at the same time. Another thing was the foot on the dog which was bandaged at the end was the opposite one to the one that was xrayed in the vet surgery.

Softly Spoken Gift of Family, Self Sacrifice and Love

[ihometech-1 · 10/10 · 8 December 2008]

Beautiful holiday tale of a Marine family, struggling as any typical family does to get along with each other let alone the world at large. Just about everybody in the cast is an unknown or at least with only a few movies (or TV shows) under their belt, including the director, Sheri Le Mon. The only easily recognizable character is "George", their grumpy next door neighbor, who happens to be Sherman Hemsley (aka George) of The Jefferson's fame.

None the less, everybody does a great job of not "over acting" (less is more), and brings a strong story of family realizing there are more important things than themselves, no matter their age, whether immediate or extended, in their lives.

I laughed often at how accurately the internal family squabbles were played, especially between the crooked halo of the youngest daughter and the older two children (the scene with the kids working on the neighbors flower bed was perfect).

Bridgette Potts (playing Grace Harrington) did a wonderful job as the teenage daughter, caught up in all the "normal" teenage dramas (actually, at their worse the kids were pretty well behaved), yet coming around when a family member, who couldn't fend for himself, needed help. Grace and her friends hard work brings everybody together and touches the hearts of all around them. A lot of detail was given to the human interactions…and I felt they were all believable.

And then there is Semper (as in Semper Fi), their lovable golden retriever (who doesn't seem to have his name in the cast of characters in IMDb – what's up with that?!), who brings family and friends together perfectly playing his part as…a dog!

Being a Marine myself and a lifelong dog lover, this gentle story of how animals can tie family, friends and community together, is a beautiful, gently stated holiday special which looks at the world through unfettered eyes and is suitable for any family member.

Good job!

Heart warming family story

[jerrilynnbthomas · 8/10 · 18 April 2010]

For the Love of a Dog is heart warming. It is so great to have teenagers who aren't doing hateful things to each other. They are all believable young actors with promising futures.

The interaction between the family, friends and neighbors is so touching. I absolutely love it when a community comes together to help each other. Even the blonde rich girl who acts snooty has redeemable qualities.

As usual, Sherman Hensely steals the spotlight in all the scenes he appears in. Grouchy but lovable is how I would classify him.

The youngest daughter and Sempher are just too cute for words!