Have actually seen a fair share of Hallmark Christmas films that have been surprisingly good and more, so they are absolutely capable of having a good film in them, hence why they keep getting watched by me. Despite giving '12 Men of Christmas' a mediocre rating and am going to give it a fairly lukewarm review, it did have some potential even if expectations weren't entirely high because of the casting of Kristen Chenoweth (a big singing inspiration of mine).
'12 Men of Christmas' is neither one of the hits or one of the misses. There are definitely worse Christmas films from Hallmark, as it just about misses being in the mediocre at best or dud category, but there are also better as it is not quite surprisingly good level or particularly good. '12 Men of Christmas' is one of the just about semi- watchable in between films of theirs, but to me for a one time watch only for completest sake and for Chenoweth.
There are good things here. Chenoweth sparkles in her role, wasn't crazy about her character but Chenoweth gamely brings effervescent charm to her. Josh Hopkins is also charming and their chemistry is natural and sweet. Actually did think on the whole that the acting wasn't bad at all considering what was given to the cast.
Also thought the production values were very nice to look at, especially the scenery which is beautiful. The music is pleasantly festive.
On the other hand, '12 Men of Christmas' isn't particularly good. The biggest strike against it is the story, which is formulaic (due to almost every recognisable Hallmark cliche in the book, or at least that's how it feels like, and with no freshness) and painfully unrealistic to a quite silly degree. Did think too that some of what happens was forced and actually could have been left out and felt like filler. While thinking that the cast was game, the characters weren't well fleshed out.
More tired variation of familiar character types, and either bored or irritated. The male roles are all one dimensional and Chenoweth's character's quirks can be overdone. The fish out of water aspect was too alien from space randomly inserted in a location like. Furthermore, the dialogue goes well overboard with the cheese factor and comes over as really dumb and childish. As well as quite stilted. There is a lack of warmth and heart, which is all lost underneath all the silliness and contrivances, while there is absolutely no doubt how things will end and in a way that even for that ending feels too tidy.
Concluding, didn't do very much for me in spite of Chenoweth. 4/10.
12 Men of Christmas
2009
Action / Comedy / Romance
12 Men of Christmas
2009
Action / Comedy / Romance
Plot summary
E.J. Baxter has what she considers the trifecta of New York perfection: the perfect job as a PR executive with Lillah Sherwood's firm where she is the miracle maker; the perfect apartment; and the perfect man in her fiancé and coworker, Noah. E.J.'s life comes crashing down just before Christmas when she is fired from her job, and finds out that Noah is cheating on her, which not only leads to her calling off their engagement but changing what were to be their romantic holiday plans. After a few months of not being able to find a job with a reputable rival PR firm because of no one willing to cross Lillah, E.J. is forced to accept one of the two less than perfect jobs offered to her. The job that she accepts from Mayor Bob Baker is to work in Kalispell, Montana - population 19,000 and located hours from a large city - on a one year contract for its tourist board to encourage corporate retreats to the town. E.J. is a fish out of water in Kalispell, but finds that there are some benefits to the antithesis to New York, most specifically that everyone is so friendly in a small town. Among the townsfolk, she makes a special connection with fly fishing guide, Jason Farrar. The one person who she has a less than positive view of is local sporting goods store owner Will Albrecht, who most of the women of the area consider the biggest catch in Kalispell. E.J.'s view of Will drops even further when she hears through the grapevine that he left his former fiancée at the altar. Conversely, Will considers E.J. to be pushy and arrogant. An incident a few months into her tenure leads to E.J. believing that the biggest thing she can accomplish in her job is to organize a fundraiser to earn money for the volunteer Search & Rescue to purchase a helicopter for their work. Her fundraising plan: a beefcake calendar featuring the men of the Search & Rescue in tasteful partially nude poses. She figures that the calendar not only highlights the important work of Search & Rescue for anyone coming to Kalispell, but works toward her end goals of engaging potential corporate clients and promoting herself so that she can find a better job back in New York to get out of Kalispell. Jason and Will are two of the thirteen men of the volunteer team, Jason the biggest booster and Will the biggest opponent to the calendar. E.J. figures that without Will, she has to convince the other twelve to pose to make the calendar at least a possible reality. E.J. goes through some trials and tribulations with the calendar over the course of her contract, at its end which she may come to some new realizations of what she would like to happen in her life to have a Merry Christmas.
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Matters of the heart
Beefcake calendar
EJ (Kristin Chenoweth) is a New York publicist whose life spirals downwards when she catches her fiancé cheating with her boss.
Unable to get another job in New York she moves down to a small town in Montana doing publicity for the Mayor's office. The town is next to the Glacier National Park.
When the local rescue team who are all volunteers need to fundraise, EJ persuades them to pose for a calendar while finding romance with one of the locals.
As this is a Lifetime Christmas film. EJ is a fish out of water in a homely small town where rents are low, everyone is nice to each other unlike the rat race of New York where everyone stabs each other in the back.
The director knows enough to keep the men interested by having several cleavage shots of Chenoweth. Frankly two good reasons to watch a Kristin Chenoweth movie!
For others there are several beefcakes who pose for the calendar and it is done in the best possible taste.
Tucked in TV Movie
Petite blonde public relations expert Kristin Chenoweth (as Emma Jane "E.J." Baxter) catches her boyfriend in the bathroom stall with her boss. Deciding to give them both more space, Ms. Chenoweth leaves the hustle-bustle of New York City and moves to a smallish-looking town in Montana. She doesn't become a dental floss tycoon; that's already been invented. Instead, she works for the mayor. Chenoweth becomes acquainted with the volunteer men of the search and rescue squad. They have a lot of fund-raisers and do good work – like rescuing petite blonde mountain climbers. Chenoweth decides to contribute by creating a calendar featuring "12 Men of Christmas" and sell it for the holidays. The problem becomes how to get the local men to take off their shirts for sexy poses. Somebody must be pulling our legs because a few of the coy, well-built men look shaved, waxed, plucked and/or ready for action. One of the many handsome men in this movie, Josh Hopkins (as Will Albrecht),gives Chenoweth an especially hard time. Photography by Peter Benison is an asset.
**** 12 Men of Christmas (12/5/09) Arlene Sanford ~ Kristin Chenoweth, Josh Hopkins, Anna Chlumsky, Jefferson Brown