'A Dog's Perfect Christmas' Review
Release Date: 11/04/26 [Netflix]
Genre: Drama.
MPAA: Rated TV14.
Distributor: Netflix.
The Verdict: A Must-See
A Dog’s Perfect Christmas, Netflix’s latest holiday addition, is based on the book by W. Bruce Cameron, who also wrote A Dog’s Purpose (both the book and the film screenplay), as well as dozens of other dog books. In fact, I was surprised to find he did not write the children’s book, I’m Still Here, which featured prominently in the movie - until I did a little digging and found that his wife, Cathryn Michon, did. She also directed and acted in A Dog’s Perfect Christmas!
Still, that’s no reason to be cynical when a soulful old Basset hound and an adorable Corgi puppy appear on screen in almost every scene. If you love dogs and you love Christmas, you’ll want to sit and stay with this new family drama, where no dogs die, and a messy, grieving family finds their way back to a “Merry Christmastime.”
Dennis Quaid plays a grandfather struggling with grief after the loss of his wife two years prior. Milo Ventimiglia plays his son, a father with a demanding career, an exhausted wife, and their teen daughter and twin toddlers.
The family is a hot mess, but their old Basset hound, Winstead, warmly voiced by Thomas Haden Church, helps them get back on track toward joy and love just in time for the holidays. Winstead gets an adorable assist from Ruby, a Corgi puppy whom the family rescues despite being at a low point and not really being in a good position to be rescuing anything or anyone.
One of the tenets of this movie is that puppies are magic and dogs can solve any problem for their families - and I’m not here to argue with these perfectly valid points. The film also serves up the myth that cardinals can be a sign from a loved one who has passed - something which I know comforts many people in the face of loss.
As with W. Bruce Cameron’s other doggie books and films, the canines here are wise and wonderful, bringing joy to the screen and making this reviewer question why there’s not a Corgi puppy sitting right beside me as I type.
On a serious note, I like that this film dropped some surprising truth bombs about motherhood and family life. It was also great to see Dennis Quaid still a stone-cold fox at age 72; it was believable to see three local widows squabbling to be his love interest.
Add A Dog’s Perfect Christmas to the annual rotation of heartwarming holiday movies and get ready to fall madly in love with little Ruby.
Pro Tip: Watch through the credits for fantastic behind-the-scenes footage of the dog actors playing together and being trained. I loved learning from these clips that while two sets of twin boys played the human twins, and two dogs played the Basset hound, the little scene-stealing Corgi puppy was actually played by three adorable, identical Corgi triplets.
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