The 12 Days of Christmas Eve

source: The 12 Days of Christmas Eve

So we've all become familiar with the standard Hallmark/Lifetime holiday movie season. Most of the movies follow very familiar formulas, and that can be great, but they do tend to run together after a while. This one, though, stands out a bit. Part of that is Grammer's performance, he's a perfect moodern Scrooge analog. It's hard to imagine this working as well without him. Another thing that really works here is the somewhat darker take on Santa. Not too dark, don't worry, but I do think there's a bit of a mythic trickster quality to him here that I quite like. There are a few things that still fall a bit flat. For example, some of the protaginist's arguments with his daughter seem rushed and out of nowhere, and their relationship particularly gets a tad repetitive. But overall this is one of the better tv holiday movies I've seen.

Kelsey & Spencer have wonderful chemistry acting together. Kelsey Grammer can stand alone, but his daughter working with him made this film so heartwarming. I love the story of this show. Everything about it is what Christmas should be about. Everyone enjoys nice gifts, but love and time are what matters. I loved the entire cast, and I hope more are to follow. My very favorite part was them singing The Irish lullaby from one of my favorite Bing Crosby movies, Going my way with Barry Fitzgerald. Maybe you guys can do a remake of that together? I think Kelsey sings nice and could definitely pull off remaking any Big Crosby movie from the Golden Age.

Now, when I sat down to watch the 2022 Christmas movie "The 12 Days of Christmas Eve", I must admit that I was expecting something good, since the movie had Kelsey Grammer on the cast list, and he is usually quite good in movies such as this. I have not heard about "The 12 Days of Christmas Eve" prior to sitting down to watch it. Writer Eirene Donohue managed to put together not only a very wholesome storyline here, but also a script that proved very entertaining and enjoyable. And the writer really made this feel like a proper Christmas movie, so thumbs up on that accomplishment. Eirene Donohue really gave director Dustin Rikert something grand to work with here. The acting performances in "The 12 Days of Christmas Eve" were good, and just as I had assumed then Kelsey Grammer really made this an enjoyable movie with his performance. He is a great actor and really shines in a movie such as this. But I will say that they had a good cast ensemble in general, and the actors and actresses put on good performances on the screen. If you enjoy Christmas movies then you definitely have to watch "The 12 Days of Christmas Eve". This does without a doubt have the potential to become a Christmas classic. I genuinely enjoyed watching this movie and was quite entertained. It is a wholesome Christmas movie that doesn't fall into that usual sappy romantic formula, you know where a man and a woman fall in love against all odds, that many Christmas movies unfortunately have a tendency of doing. This is a movie that really brings to the screen the purpose of Christmas and the holiday spirits. My rating of "The 12 Days of Christmas Eve" lands on a well-deserved seven out of ten stars.

Everything said previously is true: it's not your typical Christmas movie romance, more like an updated Christmas Carol, it's got great chemistry between all the actors, it's a keeper - worthy of watching more than once. I need to record it again and NOT delete it. The storyline is the perfect reminder during the hustle and bustle of the season. I've always liked Kelsey Grammer and I was glad to see he was Executive Producer on this, plus acting with his daughter, Spencer, who've I've never seen. The production values were top notch. Christmas isn't about gifts, as Santa tells him; it's about giving. Great line coming from Santa.

There is the obvious comparison to Scrooge and A Christmas Carol but there are obvious differences as well. One is the Ground Hog Day angle of repeating Christmas Eve over 12 times. There is some deliberate exaggeration and some crude physical humor gags earlier in the movie, but by the 5th or 6th repeat, Brian is starting to become human even though his narcissism hangs on a while longer. The acting is very good. I didn't realize until later that Michelle, Brian's daughter, is played by Spencer Grammer, Kelsey's daughter. The dialogue is good, often funny. I can't say anything surprised me. I hate including spoilers, but I have to say that when Brian kissed his daughter good night, it occurred to me that his death would punish her and the granddaughter more than any justice to Brian. Not that "Santa's" threat would come true.

Despite being somewhat off-putting early on, because of some characters being over-drawn, this movie is well worth watching. But be sure to stick with it until the very end. After watching it for a second time I needed to come back and increase my rating from 8 to 10. After the opening sequences that establish the characters and the situations they face, and after the essential nature of the movie has been revealed, the plot really finds its footing and gets rolling. It begins pulling together different plot elements from earlier in the movie into a well-orchestrated, meaningful, engaging, and highly satisfying closing sequence of scenes. The acting was simultaneously both quirky *and* good. There is a lot of subtle humor, and you'll want to pay close attention to pick up some of it. I missed a number of little throwaways the first time through. On the second time through I laughed when I realized how well they set up, in advance, some little bit of humor that I had not quite "gotten" on my first viewing. Without giving away anything about the actual plot, when you watch the movie, be sure to take a close look at the candle at the end of the opening scene, and also take note of the news story about the escaped reindeer not long thereafter. There were also some good, solid comedic lines and events that were anything but subtle! My second viewing was even more entertaining than my first viewing had been, which is a rare thing for a movie to be able to pull off. Someone who had not previously seen the movie was watching it with me -- they had quite a number of break-out-laughing moments. But this movie is more than just its humor. It also contains a number of deeper insights, and it presents some life lessons that we could all take to heart. Overall, this is a well-crafted movie. As of Dec 4th, 2022, as I write this, "The 12 Days of Christmas Eve" is my favorite 2022 Christmas movie to date. You can see all of my other favorite 2022 Christmas movies by clicking on my profile link above; then look for "2022 FAVORITE CHRISTMAS ROM-COMs" under "Lists".

We should have stopped when the main character exclaims, "I want the plan on my desk by the end of the day" and adds shortly after that, "I don't care if you have to work all night. " The line was not delivered in a sarcastic or ironic tone. Poorly written and plotted with threats of unavoidable death on Christmas (Oh, joy!). Any connection to the 12 days of Christmas song is fumbled early on and then omitted for remainder of movie. Only redeeming virtue to the movie is that someone had the good sense to omit the extremely obnoxious alarm clock from the start of subsequent days after a few occurrences.

source: The 12 Days of Christmas Eve

Everything said previously is true: it's not your typical Christmas movie romance, more like an updated Christmas Carol, it's got great chemistry between all the actors, it's a keeper - worthy of watching more than once. I need to record it again and NOT delete it. The storyline is the perfect reminder during the hustle and bustle of the season. I've always liked Kelsey Grammer and I was glad to see he was Executive Producer on this, plus acting with his daughter, Spencer, who've I've never seen. The production values were top notch. Christmas isn't about gifts, as Santa tells him; it's about giving. Great line coming from Santa.