Bland, predictable and seemingly chucked together with minimal effort at the last minute from the most basic ingredients.

A film-maker whose movies pivot around acts of altruism has reached into the archives, gussied up a dead dog and flung it into the faces of viewers with something approaching contempt. So no, alas, not a Christmas classic.

Genie is a sugar-only zone. But then, it is Christmas. Or near enough.

...there isn’t all that much to Genie, save for a lot of McCarthy mugging and some tired platitudes about how actions speak louder than wishes (or some such nonsense).