sandtonvideo

(2012-05-09 22:55:27)

Bad dog! Bad dog!

(Very minor spoilers) Cinnamon is a dog: a very spoiled dog belongingto divorced university professor and single mom Madeline (CynthiaGibb). Madeline is dating, but the dates are complete disasters, andCinnamon is relieved to have Madeline basically to herself. But thenMadeline meets the architect working on a new addition to theuniversity, a widower named Kevin (Greg Evigan) and his son Jordan.Madeline and Kevin are smitten immediately, and Cinnamon is convincedher life is going to change for the worse if Kevin and Jordan become apermanent part of Madeline's life. Cinnamon therefore sets out to wreckthe budding relationship, and employs tactics ranging from barking andbiting, to urinary attack, to running away to insure her position as"top dog" in Madeline's life. Unfortunately, Cinnamon is also a dog ofa movie, with Brenda Song (from Zack and Cody fame) wisely choosing notto be credited with the annoying voice she gives to a very annoyingcharacter. You see, Cinnamon cares nothing for her owner's happiness,only her own, and the change-of-heart essential to movies of this sortwill come about not by Cinnamon realizing the error of her ways, butrather by Cinnamon having a new selfish agenda. And Madeline – if youwere crazy about your dog, would you let your dog run off to play witha child you've only just met outside of your supervision? Would youthen drop off the little beastie unannounced for your new boyfriend todog-sit, knowing that your dog seems to hate said boyfriend? Of courseyou wouldn't, because that would be logical – unfortunately, Madelinedoes both these things, and more. There are also cringe-worthy bits ofdialogue (my personal favourite is Jordan saying "How can I live withmyself?" when Cinnamon goes missing), as well as random plot lines thatare started, and then dropped like a spoiled child (dog?) getting boredwith a toy. Gibb and Evigan do their best with appalling material, andare the reason the movie is not rated lower. What Lesley-Ann Down wasdoing in the movie is a complete mystery - her character seems almostentirely superfluous. Even the original title (it is titled CINNAMON inSouth Africa) is suspect: "MY DOG'S Christmas MIRACLE" seems to be acheap cash-in on the festive season, since the story has almost nothingto do with Christmas, and Cinnamon does very little to accomplishanything miraculous. Give this one a skip unless you or your childrenare absolutely crazy about talking dogs.