12 Dates of Christmas (2011)

A Disappointing Continuation

The first must-see film of the year.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

If you loved Groundhog Day, 12 Dates of Christmas will probably be your new favorite Christmas movie. This ABC television movie is the best Christmas classic since Elf, one you will add to your collection and watch every year.Amy Smart stars as an unhappy, lonely young woman determined to win her ex-boyfriend back on Christmas Eve. She ignores the advice of her best friend, Laura Miyata, is rude to her kind-hearted neighbor, Jayne Eastwood, and hurts her dad and stepmom's feelings with her flippant remarks about the holidays. On top of it all, she gets set up on a blind date with Mark-Paul Gosselaar but doesn't really give him the time of day because she's still in love with Benjamin Ayres. But, when the clock strikes midnight, time flies backwards and she finds herself reliving Christmas Eve all over again!Everything about this movie is adorable, and every time you watch it, there's more to notice and appreciate. Director James Hayman adds the clever touch of inserting each of the 12 proverbial gifts of Christmas during her repetition of the day; for example, there are two sets of love birds in a shop window and nine women start up a conga line in a bar. It's great fun to try and catch all twelve! While most films of this type-mean person learns his lesson-focus on one lesson, Aaron Mendelsohn and Janet Brownell's script is more complex than that. Amy Smart's character is given deeper reasons for her unhappiness, rather than a cheesy, generic dislike of the holiday or lack of romance. Each of the supporting characters are given their own quirks and niceties, adding to enjoyment of the story. Plus, there's more than one romance in the film, so even though you're guaranteed to fall for Mark-Paul Gosselaar, you'll find yourself rooting for other couples as well.From Mary Long's holiday pun-"What happens when Santa gets stuck in the chimney? He gets Santa Claustr-ophobia!"-to Audrey Dwyer's one repeated, memorable line-"I spritzed you and you passed out"-12 Dates of Christmas is full of funny lines and scenes that you'll look forward to reliving every year. I can't recommend this modern Christmas classic highly enough. I just love it!

Amy Smart is the only attraction, and then there is the moment where you ask yourself, "Is that the guy from Saved by the Bell?" Yeah, this move is painful to watch. It's so bad, it's actually hilarious. There are so many holes that leave you confused. There are quotes from this movie that are already inside jokes among my friends. Here is the best one: "Don't do that...Don't have low self a esteem." Why would you say that? It's just a silly movie, because it tries to take itself serious. The dialogue is the worst part. The music, the characters, scenes, scene transitions, and script is corny.

I choose to watch this movie because (1) Amy Smart - who I have liked in everything I have seen of her (2) Christmas movie - which I generally enjoy even when a lower standard (3) good IMDb reviews.I didn't have big expectations are anything. I just wanted something close to average with a Christmasy feel to it with Amy Smart as the headline attraction.But this movie could not even meet those low standards.Despite only being 1hr 25min, the movie dragged on and on. The Groundhog Day stuff where Amy Smart relieves the same day over and over got very irritating. I rarely felt like Smart was making progress from Day to the next.None of the characters were the type you would adhere to. You were never rooting for anybody. The love interest was a paper thin character who was too perfect. Smart was the only other character developed in the story. Nothing about her was particularly interesting beside how pretty she was.I would never watch this movie again. It was a struggle to get through even once and would be even harder a 2nd time. I have been flip-flopping between 1 or 2 stars.

Amy Smart plays an insensitive woman who only cares about herself who is given the chance to make her life and the lives of others about her happier if only she stops being so self-centered. After falling over in a department store she bumps her head and re-lives Xmas Eve over and over (twelve times, to be precise) until she gets it all just right.Normally I wouldn't bother with such fluff, but Amy Smart is gorgeous and really ought to be in more movies. The score is basically lifted wholesale from A Charlie Brown Christmas and there is not much atmosphere. You could basically transpose the story from December 24th to any other day of the year (Groundhog Day, for example) and it wouldn't be much different.I wasn't once bored watching it though, and it's an acceptable addition to the holiday TV viewing.