User Reviews

This was a sweet story but with very little dramatic tension to hold my interest. Cute puppies but not much going on. The dialogue kept repeating and I felt bad for the actors - they had so little to work with. I love Hallmark movies and I wanted to like this movie, but the best I can say is that it was sweet but slow.

For a Sunday afternoon, it's just fine, given kids are likely to be around. Kind of a Disney, straight to video level. As for the lead actress being "noticeably" pregnant, no. She looks about 4 months. Descriptions here make it sound like she is heavily pregnant and she is actually barely showing. It is mostly covered up with big t-shirts and gathered blouses. Really, why are actresses expected to be stick thin anyway? Congratulations to her for having a girl and adopting two boys after an earlier miscarriage! Celebrate, don't criticize.

Christopher Russell as Ryan Hill and Jen Lilley as Hailey Goode did a credible job in the movie. What's not to like about Christopher Russell, good looking, heart-stopping smile, good actor. Jen Lilley is sweet, very pretty, and obviously pregnant in some scenes. But after a couple scenes I hardly noticed it anymore.

Bailey Skodje as Emmy Hill was adorable and a fairly good actress.

Puppies were cute and cuddly, clearly type cast. But please, people, learn to hold puppies, grasping them around the middle and letting them dangle in your arms is just not comfortable or safe for the puppies.

All in all it's a very sweet, predictable HM film. No surprises.

A better script would have been nice, I pitied the actors in some of the scenes and they were trying so hard to make it work with a mediocre script.

Question - in one scene Ryan says that his daughter would go binoculars if she knew he was with the puppies without her, What does that even mean???

My Advice: It's watchable and worth the 80 some minutes.

To this avid Hallmark watcher, this movie seemed like it was written with a 'formula' that too many films adhere to. There was very little originality in the story line. The outcomes were predictable, and there seemed almost no reason to stay with the movie till the end. However, that said, credit should be given for some very charming acting on the part of the little girl, who embraced her role with enthusiasm and energy..The leading man, Christopher Russell, is always attractive and romantic. He did well with a very minimal and uncreative script, and, as a single dad and widower, made the hero of this movie someone relatable and sympathetic.. And now a word about Jen Lillie..Clearly, once again, she is pregnant in a film that casts her as a single businesswoman..Not sure why Hallmark continues to do this, but most viewers will notice her camouflaging clothing and her camera angles. Additionally, this lovely actress seems to have a very limited repertoire of facial expressions, causing her to smile frantically in every scene, no matter what the dialogue calls for . Perhaps she could be encouraged to try some different emotions, some more serious expressions, and a great deal less frantic smiling. This movie was pleasant, the puppies were adorable,but the drawbacks were so glaring that it left the viewer ready to forget every scene.

This is a really sweet Hallmark movie. The actors are all pleasant and attractive to look at and the story is predictable and uncomplicated. This is the first time that I have seen Christopher Russell and I hope it is not the last. He is really handsome and a decent actor. The only real fault that I can find is echoed by the other reviews, Jen Lilley is obviously pregnant in numerous scenes. It is distracting, but she is such a gentle presence in the movie, I can ignore the fact that she is pregnant. The dogs are all adorable, but it does drive me nuts when people think it is cute when children improperly and awkwardly hold animals. Please Hallmark, teach the child actors how to hold animals in your movies.

Puppy's! It was a cute story line that we've seen a million times on Hallmark...Light, and very little crisis. Handsome bachelor dad of one daughter dates for first time after loosing wife to cancer 5 years prior. In comes the puppy party lady! And notice how all the up for adoption puppy's are all beautiful pure breds??? Hee Hee

A Hallmark formula: a single woman meets a widowed man with a young daughter, and the daughter immediately likes the woman. The single woman's best friend encourages the woman to go after the man. But wait! There's a complication that must be overcome before the man and woman can finally fall in love!

Where have I seen this movie before? Did I spoil the movie by describing it in full? No. It is a common theme on Hallmark movies. The last thing anyone wants to see there is something original.

Oh, and for robsuey, the plural of "puppy" is "puppies", and the word is "lose" not "loose". Sorry, but that kind of bad English bothers me.

Hailey (Jen Lilley) is an accountant with a wonderful side business. She arranges "puppy parties" to entertain young birthday celebrants and to get the little doggies adopted. On an outing, she meets Ryan (Christopher Russell) , a single dad to Emily, who longs for a puppy. But, father's not sure. Since his wife's death, he and Emmy have done just fine and he's concerned they do not have time to care for a puppy in their home. Happily, Hailey can arrange for Emily to see the dogs at home a couple of times. Complications soon arise when Hailey, who has been advocating for a certain city property to become a dog park, and Ryan, who works for the mayor, knows his boss wants the land for retail. More importantly, Ryan is confused by his growing attraction to Hailey and visa versa. Will solutions and romance arrive? Hallmark should get its own star on the walk in Hollywood for making tons of quality romantic comedies when Hollywood has mostly abandoned the genre's fans. This one is also terrific with a nice cast, charming puppies, great costumes, sets, humor and heart. My only pleas are for viewers to find the film and enjoy it AND FOR HALLMARK TO RELEASE some of its great movies to theaters.

There are several reviews here that mention Jen Lilley's pregnancy as a distraction. Yes, they could have done a better job of covering it up, as has been done with other actresses in other movies. But maybe they did not want to . My research found that Jen Lilley and her husband have been desperately wanting a child for years. They were unsuccessful for years and have recently turned to adoption. But now she is finally pregnant. So I, for one, celebrate this pregnancy with she and her husband. My wife and I had the same problem, though not as long. We also adopted a little boy and finally had a little girl the hard way. Our son and daughter dearly loved each other, 7 years apart, until the day he died a few years ago. I wish them success this time and hope they cherish the time with their children as much as we did. Now lets get to the real distraction, the unkept male lead. I stand by my last review. But does anyone else think that if they ever do a movie about Christopher Reeve, Christoper Russel should get the part, if he shaves?

Hallmark did have some above average and more films in 2019, as well as some misfires, in all their seasonal blocks. Jen Lilley and Christopher Russell have always been hit and miss for me, particularly Lilley who has had her fair share of poorly written roles. The premise didn't really sound all that interesting or innovative, but there are films that don't sound great on paper but turn out better than expected. Anything with puppies is also worth watching.

As far as 2019 Hallmark goes, 'Love Unleashed' is not one of the worst (like 'Christmas Scavenger Hunt' or 'Christmas at Dollywood'). Nowhere near, and actually it could have been a lot worse than it turned out. It is also not one of the best of the batch either, it's no for example 'Love and Sunshine'. The premise was nothing special, the execution of it was pretty much the same. There are good things in 'Love Unleashed' but also some bad. Making for an average effort.

Shall start with the good. Russell was naturally easy going and subtly charming, not as introverted as he can be. The supporting cast are more than competent and show a good deal of personality, even though their roles are little more than typical Hallmark cliches. The puppies are absolutely adorable and steal every scene they are in.

The scenery and overall production values are lovely to watch too while the music is pleasant enough.

'Love Unleashed' however is significantly weakened by the story, which not only is predictable from sticking too close to a well worn and borderline tired formula it is also very slight (at times even uneventful) and too slow moving. Also thought that the film played it too safe and didn't do anything distinctive or any risk taking, the lack of tension, the too convenient ending and the contrived conflict can also be seen. The script can sound quite awkward and cheesy as well as too sentimental.

Was rather mixed on Lilley. She has moments where she is charming and radiant, but there are also times where she seemed to be trying too hard when her character is not particularly easy to warm to. She and Russell don't have enough chemistry together, it has its moments once it warms up but somehow it felt underdeveloped and too careful. The characters are not ones that one hates, but development wise there is little to them.

In conclusion, pretty mixed here. 5/10.

Doesn't matter if Jen's pregnant in the movie. It's still a sweet story.

This looks like every other Hallmark "love" movie. I read with interest another review that says they wish Hallmark would release some of it's good movies into theaters. True, but Hallmark has not had any good movies in years. The original Hallmark Hall of Fame movies were wonderful. The current ones are just rehashes of their standard "love" movies. Maybe if they made fewer movies they could pay their actors enough so they could buy razor blades. The lead actors they use these days look like the homeless men I see in the urban areas of town. Now there is an idea, make a movie about a homeless family instead of a rich one.

Once upon a time, Hallmark made a movie with a great story and fantastic director. The story was exciting, the lovers had chemistry and spark, and all the characters were interesting. Unfortunately THIS AIN'T IT !!!

Do the producers really think we're so dumb we won't notice the female lead is noticeably pregnant? I'm happy for Jen and her family, but this just doesn't work. Somehow, even though this film was shot after "Paris, Wine and Romance," the baby bump was not as obvious in this one, but still hard to miss. You have to be able to suspend common sense about a lot of things to watch these films, but with her petite frame even the most clever director can't camouflage that a woman is 7 months pregnant.

Jen Lilly, Christopher Russell, Bailey Skopje and the rest of the cast were good, but the script was just so-so. There were lots of plot holes and strange timelines. For example, how old were those "puppies?"

I didn't notice Jen's pregnancy. The movie is sweet, the puppies are clearly the best and the two main characters are good together. It left me with a smile and wishing that I could adopt a pet! Think about that: adopt a dog and give him/her all the love they deserve.

Oh how I hate child actors ! Admittedly they are an annoying necessity to the storyline, but the overacting is cringeworthy, and I suppose in the eyes of the Director if they remember their lines that's all that matters. And why do the scriptwriters NEVER get the children to say 'please' or 'thank you' ??? The child in this was continuing asking "can I......." "can I........" with never a 'please' at the end.

The story didn't hold my interest, and I cared even less about the characters. Chris Russell needs to watch his performances, and he'll see he does little more than smile and swivel his eyes...... a lot ! as a father he was not convincing. Jen Lilley is a favourite in Hallmark films, but she should get past the coy smiley teenager, and start acting her age more.

The puppies were good though !

I love Jen lilley but thought Hallmark would be smarter than to make another movie with her so pregnant - I am just glad she didn't give birth before they finished shooting the movie - when I checked - I realized she was only about 4 - 5 months pregnant when they finished shooting the movie by April 2019 - she isn't due until August 2019. The only reason I watched the movie to the end ( pretty much a std Hallmark Romance ) was my wife wouldn't let me leave. She said it was cute - I told her that before we met - I had never dated a pregnant women in my life. I have to assume Lilley was under contract and there was no pregnancy escape clause for Hallmark - At least they delayed the last Gourmet Detective movie until Brooke Burns had her kid - not sure what the deal was with Jen but it spoiled a good movie for me.

Is it just me but Jen is really, really hard to understand when she talks. She talks fast and so low that I have to increase the volume each time. The puppies are cute though. They are the reason I kept watching. The leads have zero chemistry. What a waste!

It didn't bother me that Jen was pregnant. What did what that she's a foot shorter than the leading man. Made it difficult to watch. Did they do this to take the focus off her belly? Puppies though.

As an avid Hallmark viewer, these get more painful to watch. Anyone could be a writer for these shows. Dead relative? ✔ Single parent? ✔ Horrible dialog? ✔ The worst of this movie.....he actually says, "She would go binoculars over it!" Kids go "binoculars "? The he says "Did my 8 yr old just use hashtag in a sentance?" Really? You just used the word binoculars to describe excitement. 😒