12 Dates of Christmas (2011)

You won't be disappointed!

Very Cool!!!

Good concept, poorly executed.

A Disappointing Continuation

So this movie is basically a remake of "Groundhog Day", but with a female character and on Christmas eve. It's still pretty entertaining, but the parallels to "Groundhog Day" are just too frequent to ignore... Other than that, it's a cute, romantic movie.

12 Dates of Christmas is a festive version of Groundhog Day with maybe a bit of A Christmas Carol thrown in.Amy Smart is reliving her Christmas Eve as she wakes up each time on the floor of a department store. She is selfish, self obsessed and rude. She has not got over her ex boyfriend and wants him back. She does not like her stepmother and when she is fixed up on a blind date she quickly walks out on him within a few minutes to go see her ex.Each time she reawakens she realises she needs to fix things, become a better person and care for others around her.This is a lightweight romantic comedy, a bit fluffy but also overlong. I just felt that it run out of plot rather early on but there was still some time left to go.

12 Dates of Christmas is instantly forgettable. Time is precious and don't waste yours watching this. Groundhog Day did it much, much better. Amy Smart is cute and you may get warm tingles every now and then. However, it's cheesy and the message is more how to avoid spending Christmas alone and get a partner rather than kindness and/or forgiveness. It's also very commercial, schmaltzy, gaudy and lacking in imagination considering where it could have gone with the story line. I'll try and think of some positives: the dog on the bed is pretty good, the baking lady is cool and Amy Smart does have a nice smile. Still, watch something else - like Groundhog Day for the fiftieth time.

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.