A Tail of Love (TV Movie 2022) Poster

(2022 TV Movie)

User Reviews

Review this title
54 Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by Rating:
6/10
Far from a dog
TheLittleSongbird4 July 2023
The 2022 Spring into Love Hallmark films were decent, though none for me were great, with 'Just One Kiss' faring best. 'A Tail of Love' sounded really cute and dogs are very hard to resist. Have seen plenty of charming dog-oriented films. Have seen Brittany Bristow and Chris McNally in other things and have liked them both on the whole, though am more familiar with Bristow in supporting roles (i.e. The comic relief best friend). The 2022 Hallmark films were of variable quality, but only two really of the previous films were bad.

'A Tail of Love' is another decent Spring into Love film. It isn't my definition of great, not as great as has been said here, but it is sweet and charming despite the story not always convincing. When it comes to ranking Hallmark's 2022 output, 'A Tail of Love' is in the middle category rather than being in either the good or bad categories, while managing to be a good representation of Bristow and McNally. Anybody who loves dog will not be disappointed as well and there is plenty to like here.

Bristow and McNally are good in their roles, particularly McNally in a subtly charismatic and charmingly easy going performance as the more likeable and consistently written character. Wasn't always on board with Bristow's character, but she is still perky, looks lovely and does have charm as well. Actually personally thought their chemistry was nice and subtle, while not off the charts. The dogs are absolutely adorable and most of the supporting cast are solid.

Furthermore, it is a good looking film with the beautiful scenery standing out. The music is pleasant enough and fits. The script doesn't come over as too cheesy or sentimental, flows at least and sounds like everyday conversation. Enough of the story is light hearted and heart-warming.

Despite however the business stuff not always making sense and the ending feeling too unrealistically neat, actually did not buy McNally's character's final decision and he comes over as naive at this point considering how he was treated in the contrived and rushed feeling conflict. Bristow's character is not always likeable, coming over as too immature at times.

The villainous boss character is also out of kilter annoying and overplayed by Stephanie Moore. The pacing could have been tighter at times, with some draggy stretches, and everything with the severance was overused and repetitive.

Summing up, decent but unexceptional. 6/10.
8 out of 8 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
Kind souls find love and a dog
MickyG3336 February 2023
7.7 stars.

Although this movie feels heart-wrenching from time to time, and most of the story is sad, much happiness shines through. There is no lack of heartwarming, happy, tender, and cute moments. There are many angles to "A Tail of Love", and one thing for sure is the leads provide a keen sense of suffering, but not the usual sort of pain. JR and Bella share a love that cannot be fully realized because he is scheduled to be shipped off to Iraq, and she is losing her doggy rescue centre. They share a mutual love for a German shepherd named Indie who also needs a new home.

We can anticipate how this will end, but the profound emotional bond that these actors manifest toward each other is one of a kind. The strong desire they express, the basic need each has for the other's heart... I was touched with the portrayal of a mutual yearning each has for the other, more of a compassionate desire rather than a carnal one. This is a film to be enjoyed by a gentle soul.
6 out of 6 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
A love story
anthonymoah15 May 2022
It's a good love story. The villian within the story make you cringe with anger but it's worthwhile to watch the movie if you're a Hallmark movie fan.

Good, well known Hallmark actors within the movie.
7 out of 9 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
6/10
A romance for dog lovers everywhere.
cgvsluis20 May 2022
I was really excited to see Chris McNally star in something besides the period piece When calls the Heart and I was not disappointed...he was great, as was the rest of this cast especially the dogs!

This is the story of a dog rescue center that specializes in military and police dogs, who loose their funding and are being evicted all in one swoop. Thankfully this is a beloved local charity and everyone seems to be trying to help out...except the new owner of their previous sponsor (who is just plain evil and clearly doesn't like dogs).

Jr Stockard the previous owner becomes close with both Bella and a military rescue dog named Indie.

This is a fun summer romance all around dogs and dog rescue. Very sensitive characters are involved in this romance and a search for some lost paperwork.

The main characters are adorable and have great chemistry...what's not to love? I recommend this one to all those dog lovers out there!
7 out of 9 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
Not a Hallmark movie
chas-971761 May 2022
Although broadcast by Hallmark, this was not made by them. It's an indy Canadian film.

Pretty good flick, taking advantage of all the dogs. I didn't particularly care for Bella, but JR and rest of cast were excellent.

I'm realy surprised so many reviewers thought this was a Hallmark film. Didn't the big "W" watermark clue you in? Plus the closing credits?
9 out of 14 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
A dog named Indie
facondra24 April 2022
Chris Mcnally and Brittany Bristow knocked it out the park. It was an awesome movie. I loved all the actors. The show was awesome. The dogs were all so cute and did a great job. Makes me want to adopt a dog. Indie played his part well.
34 out of 41 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
Loved the dogs - big plot hole
kimmer-4615724 April 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Loved the dogs and the stars but basic plot seems off. In the original sale they would have outlined amount of land and what was included. If no one thought the dog rescue was part of company it wouldn't have been included or JR could have changed terms.
13 out of 29 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
A Delightful Tail
LucaBeth_Writer24 April 2022
A Tail of Love was an adorable film with many touching moments, acted wonderfully by the show's leads, Brittany Bristow and Chris McNally. In it, Bella owns a dog rescue that is in danger due to the land it sits on supposedly being a part of other land that is being sold. McNally, as JR Stockard tries to help Bella, the shelter's owner, keep this from happening and romance blossoms. The chemistry between McNally & Bristow was great and their performances both tender and nuanced. At one point, they had me crying. The supporting cast was great as well. Jane Eastwood as Nana was everything you'd want a wise older woman to be and. Humberly González filled her role well as Bella's friend. And Stephanie Moore did a terrific job as the show's villainous, repeatedly making me wish one of the dogs in the program would go bite her in the rear!

Yes, the story has some of the trademark Hallmark characteristics we have come to love, but it's different as well. The story isn't just the same old story recycled and it has a specialness to it that makes it endearing. You can count on a happy ending, but the understated and authentic performances make it stand out from the pack. In short, this movie delivers.

If you love dogs, if you are fan of Chris McNally and/or Brittany Bristow, you will not want to miss this sweet story.

Oh - and in case you're like me and want to make sure no animals are injured in a dog movie before you watch it, you should be fine with this one as well. I really enjoyed it and live Tweeting as it went on.
33 out of 40 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
6/10
Flawed, yet heartwarming.
victek-1614123 February 2024
Warning: Spoilers
Britanny Barstow and Chris McNally are likeable actors, and I found their mutual attraction believable. The subject of military service dogs is also heartwarming. On the other hand, there is a lot of lazy writing in the script. For instance, the notion that the dog rescue center doesn't have a deed to the land it sits on is ridiculous. Everyone is looking for the deed all through the movie, and then when it is mysteriously found, the rescue center is not notified immediately. Instead, it's kept until the next day and revealed during a PR event. Also, the "bad developer" character who wants to take the land and build condos on it (or whatever) is portrayed as a borderline psycho who takes and hides a copy of the deed, so her land grab can go through. As expected, the couple follow their hearts and true love triumphs at the end, but I've seen both of these actors handle that moment in a more natural way. Along with better writing, this movie would have benefited from focusing more on the military service dogs, who are the real stars in the story. Over all, it's watchable if you can ignore the flaws.
0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
3/10
Bad Message
mrocco-15 June 2022
The movie was well done. The acting and writing was good except for the thing that made me rate this a 3. Our Hero is a soldier but to be with the Heroine he has to give that up. She didn't grow or learn things about herself. She just got what she wanted which was to force him to give up his military career that he was happy with. I prefer my heroines with more of a backbone and the ability to to be admirable. She was an immature child woman and by the end I wasn't rooting for her, I wanted him to leave! That is probably a first for this Hallmark addict.
13 out of 16 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
Great movie
veggiecook-5442324 April 2022
I loved the story, excellent writing and such a sweet story of rescue and love. The dogs were amazing and so much fun. Loved all the messages of what dogs can do. Nana and all the supporting cast were great. Brittany Bristow and Chris McNally had wonderful chemistry and such a joy to watch. I laughed, I cried and felt joy! A movie I will buy as soon as it's available.
34 out of 42 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
A Tail of Love
studioAT17 August 2023
I thought this was a fun Hallmark film with a good leading lady in Brittany Bristow. I hope the channel continues to use her more in their films because she's warm and engaging and that goes a long way.

The villain of the piece (and it's unusual for Hallmark films to have a villain at all) was a bit over the top and theatrical, one step away from twirling a moustache in fact, but apart from that I thought this was one of the channels better films in recent times.

Overall, switch off your brain, don't get too annoyed by all the searching for a piece of paper, and just enjoy a sweet little romance.
0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
5/10
I wanted to love this
countessemily14 November 2022
Warning: Spoilers
The positives: Chris McNally, DOGS!, Brittney Bristowe. All of these make the movie worth watching. Chris and Brittney have good chemistry and Indie the dog was Absolutely so adorable! She won over my heart! And Indie's backstory broke my heart, but it was happy when she found a new owner in Chris's character!

Now the bad/ negatives: the antagonist: she was actually annoying to the point it was cringe inducing. The "oh I'm tired of active duty, so instead I'll just tell the military I want a desk job" easy way out. I'm so sick of this. The military does not bend to you, you bend to them. The pacing was also super slow. And while I said Chris and Britney had good chemistry, it's under-used here because of the material they are working with.

I really wanted to love this plot but the script was just a mess. I'm glad I saw it, because there are some cute moments, but I won't need to watch it again and again. Indie the dog I will say makes this a watch it once movie though!
8 out of 9 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
A lovely tail!
GeeJoDeeGee25 April 2022
Bristow has soared to the top of the Hallmark charts. She exudes grace, charm, and comedic wit. I enjoy her characters. Add several dogs, and you've got a delightful movie. Yes, it's classic Hallmark movie and it is exactly what I tune in for! This has a wonderful cast of characters! One should never over analyze a Hallmark -. Simply enjoy it for what it is, either a nice escape or you can change the channel...
31 out of 39 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
Such a heartwarming movie
austenpride24 April 2022
This was one of the best movies I've watched this year! It touched my heart, and it's one I will watch over and over again! The dogs were adorable, and the love story was believable and sweet. I enjoyed live tweeting with everyone during the premier.
32 out of 41 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
5/10
The villain was too annoying
Jackbv12326 April 2022
I love Bristow and McNally. Both are upbeat and make appealing characters. As to be expected, they have chemistry here but it wasn't enough to overcome the annoying factors.

Rachel was annoying rather than villainous. Her character was so one dimensional and unexplainable. Her meanness overrode any common business sense. Seriously, the CEO of a pet food company closing a rescue center and doing everything she could to cause it even more harm??? If the writers are going to go with that ridiculous plot thread, then they need to supply a load of backstory. Either way, it gets in the way of the romance which is what these movies are supposed to be about.

The issue of the missing "Severance" was too repetitive especially since most viewers know that it is going to be discovered in some unlikely place at the last minute. When the leads where handling photographs, I was thinking "oh no, you are not going to steal that plot device from several movies and have their grail be on the back of one". Where they found it was just as derivative.

I picked this movie out of several with high expectations given the lead actors and the obvious promise of a dog story, but was sadly disappointed.
14 out of 18 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
Awesome movie!
pma-6281424 April 2022
I enjoyed every second of this movie! The chemistry between Chris McNally and Brittany Bristow was electric! The story was not a re-do of another movie, and was so much fun to watch and had a lot of humor in it, too. I really loved all of the interactions with the dogs, especially Indie! The storyline was great and there wasn't a minute of it that didn't captivate me. The supporting cast were great, and I especially loved Nana and her story. I loved the stories behind the dogs, the military and the disabled. Heartwarming movie that made me laugh and cry, sometimes at the same time! I will most definitely purchase the DVD when it is released! Thank you Hallmark for a really wonderful movie!
31 out of 40 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
3/10
Love dogs; love the people!
As much as I love the actors personally and I love pups (I have three of my own and have rescued many over the last five decades!) Sadly, this seemed rather boring to me! I've seen several movies where I love Brit... but everything seemed stilted! Next time I'll try again!
10 out of 13 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
9/10
Heartwarming movie
jewhitmer2517 August 2022
This was a wonderful movie. One of the best Hallmark movies of the year. Good job, Hallmark, lets have more like this.

Does anyone besides me see a big resemblance between Brittnay Bristow and Cindy Busby?

The only reason I gave it a 9 instead of 10 is the basic plot. Every state in the country has Adverse Possession Laws. For instance in Arkansas if a squatter continuously occupies the property for 7 years and pays property taxes, by Adverse Possession the property is theirs. In this case Lily and her husband built on the land, maintained and made improvements to the property for 25 years and must have paid property taxes or state would have taken action well before 25 years. This possibly would have satisfied the strictist Adverse Possession Laws. Any competent lawyer should have looked into Adverse Possession.

Ok, got that off my chest. I loved the movie.

The leads have great chemistry, the supporting cast was great. The dogs were great.

My advice: great family film, this is a must watch movie.
6 out of 6 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
Fantastic entertainment
peterd-9376424 April 2022
The movie was so real and down to earth. Chris McNally and Brittany Bristow were fantastic and their chemistry just flowed. One of the best movies I've seen this year. Congratulations and kudos to all envolved.
31 out of 41 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
4/10
So many doggos!
MIssM1915 May 2022
J. R (Chris) is the owner of a company that provides food to Bella's (Britanny) dog rescue center, and since he is in the army and doesn't have the time to manage so he arranges to sell it, therefore Bella and her grandma are force to fight the adversities imposed by the new owner.

I really tried to like this, and while the concept was cute (ALL THE DOGGOS!) I couldn't. There was no chemistry between the actors. I felt they were reading the lines and not actually living the character or the story. The characters, individually, were okay (specially Bella) but together there was no spark.

So, it kind hurts to give Chris and Britanny this rating, but it didn't provoke anything in me. I couldn't wait for it to be over, which is a shame because I had high expectations.
10 out of 14 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
Hallmark at its Best
drbeeson25 April 2022
Great script, great casting, great acting.... and most importantly, adorable dogs. As a wiseman once said, "The more people I meet, the more I like my dog!" Btw, Brittany Bristol, as Bella, was at her angelic best.
28 out of 38 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
3/10
Bad plot development and characters
hazard11129 April 2022
Warning: Spoilers
I don't mind cliche plots or anything but this was weird that it took me out of my suspension of disbelief.

The antagonist is a shell of a woman who is an owner of a chain of pet food stores and yet she is somehow wanting to close down a dog rescue center with like 60 day notice being a b-tch for no apparent reason? That's just bad business decisions and has 0 sense. Like there was even a scene where in she took the deeds papers..for like what use??

I find the male lead a douche with hair that is to suave looking for someone who is an active military man, his plan was to get back to duty never to return and yet he actively pursues the female lead asking her out several times until feelings develop? That's just not nice nor romantic. Of course we still get our happy ending but it felt contrived at that point.

Meanwhile said female lead is faced with 60 day notice with a lot of things to do but instead of having the urgency to actually find the deeds of their lot she just goes on dates. Where's the urgency or tension? The overall forced positivity just makes it all feel so fake to me

3 stars only for the dogs.
15 out of 23 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
Absolutely Perfect
nkl-2112224 April 2022
Absolutely perfect. Loved this movie. Brittany Bristow and Chris McNally are the perfect pairing. The dogs were adorable. Such a heartwarming story and bit different from regular Hallmark. Refreshing change. I think a sequel needs to happen.
28 out of 38 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
9/10
Bark-tastic!
ISmellSnow25 April 2022
Such a cute movie with cute doggies! Bristow and McNally had good chemistry, they made me laugh and tear up a bit. I know other reviewers will complain about how similar plots have been done on Hallmark before, but that's Hallmark! Bristow and McNally brought something different to this movie that made it a fun watch. Highly recommend!
22 out of 29 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
An error has occured. Please try again.

See also

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews


Recently Viewed