The Dog Who Saved the Holidays

Following The Dog Who Saved Christmas (2009), The Dog Who Saved Christmas Vacation (2010), and The Dog Who Saved Halloween (2011), this latest entry in the middling holiday TV-movie franchise finds Elisa Donovan and Gary Valentine reprising their roles as Belinda and George Bannister, with Dean Cain returning as bumbling burglar Ted Stein. In this outing, the Connecticut-based Barristers, their children, and their lab retriever Zeus (previously voiced by Mario Lopez, now by Joey Lawrence) head west to spend the holidays at the Malibu mansion of wacky widowed Aunt Barbara (Shelley Long), who surprises her guests with a new puppy, Eve. Various plot threads concern the threat of Ted and his sidekick (trying to steal a valuable trinket from the wealthy matriarch, and surprised to see the Barristers in town), the jealousy of Zeus due to Eve's new role in the family, and the fact that George doesn't seem to have any plans for the couple's upcoming wedding anniversary. Featuring slapsticky dialogue and puerile gags, this corny, unmemorable film is strictly optional. Aud: P. (J. Williams-Wood)