12 Wishes of Christmas (2011)

Absolutely Fantastic

A different way of telling a story

Blistering performances.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Guess I'm getting to a point at which positive stuff really does it for me, and this movie oozes Christmas kitsch.Okay, here are what hit me:1) Real liquid in a coffee cup!!!! I am so tired of movies always serving people air coffee, I mean even in the big budget really good ones!!!! What, are you afraid of spilling on the wardrobe you're going to take back?2) Horrible sets ... they won't fool you at all. And, yet ... and yet ... the acting, writing, directing, cinematography for the most part win the day and you won't care.3) That Christmas kitsch ... it's everywhere!!! And it is as bright and reassuring as the plot itself.4) They didn't say grace!!!! That was the one let-down in the otherwise darling entertainment for me. What, do we have a new genre? ... Christian movies that aim not to offend. This is the second really good one I've seen, the other being Paradise Recovered also reviewed here, and maybe that is what makes them work is the less obvious evangelism. I guess our girl wasn't really convinced, though, or maybe you can be good without being obvious about it. Maybe you are displaying your faith in how you treat others. That is basically what the movie says.

Laura is having a bad day, Sure, she lives in a great townhouse and has a good job with Volara Fashions. But her tyrant boss Jack Volara needs to cut 15 percent of the force at Christmas. Anyone not contributing value has to go. And Laura is late for a big meeting because her nasty neighbor Harry cut off her power in the middle of the night to make a repair in his place, meaning Laura's alarm didn't go off. And she broke a heel.Volara's new Santa Baby fashion line is being introduced just in time for Christmas, and a prestigious Beverly Hills department store will be selling it, if Volara can sell them on the idea. Sandra, Laura's boss, is in charge of making that happen. But Sandra messes up in giving Laura the address to send the samples to. Sandra doesn't realize it was her mistake and Laura gets fired.Laura has a boyfriend Morgan who she believes is ready to marry her. But the big announcement he wanted to make is that he is quitting his high-powered finance job to write novels.Laura volunteers at an animal shelter, and while walking one of the dogs she meets Andy, a lawyer who also volunteers at the shelter. They really hit it off. Meanwhile, Andy has business with Harry, who knows Laura has a dog, which is against the rules in their development. It's a good thing Laura knows a good shelter, because if she gets caught with that dog, out she goes.Laura's best friend Faith still works at Volara, in addition to volunteering at a skating rink. They talk about what Laura will do next; she needs a life coach. And this leads to Laura visiting the web site, and later the office, of a kooky old woman named Noel, who can grant twelve wishes. Noel warns Laura to start slowly, with small wishes. And to read the terms of service. Oh, no one does that. Laura wishes for Morgan to send flowers and for Faith to have great hair when she attends a party where her ex will be (Faith already looks gorgeous, by the way). Both wishes come true, and there are earthquakes. California has a lot of those.Noel keeps appearing and disappearing mysteriously. As a bell ringer, she advises Laura to be careful to wish for only those things which will truly make her happy. Laura thinks she is doing that, but when she runs out of wishes, she realizes she is not happy. Remember those terms of service? There are consequences for wishes you thought would make you happy.Now Laura must fix all the messes she made. Can she do it? Furthermore, will she end up with Morgan or Andy? I can say that Andy is the type boyfriend everyone who watches this type of movie wants the girl to end up with, and Morgan is not.There seems to be an epidemic of movies where Elisa Donovan has a dog and doesn't want to spend Christmas with her mother, in which Michael Gross plays a Scrooge. Keep in mind, though, how Scrooge turned out. Gross is very good here, and we really find out why his character has developed such a negative attitude.This is by far the better of the movies with Donovan and Gross, though. Donovan actually does better in the other one, but she is quite charming and appealing here too, and not overly perky, not to mention pretty. And I do like her clothes. Well, of course if she works in fashion shell have pretty clothes. They are clothes normal people would wear, though, not the FABulous stuff you see in New York.This movie has a lot of good writing and acting, even if it does stick to a formula. But it's a very good formula, with a lot of lessons about responsibility and making your own dreams come true.I didn't recognize Gabrielle Carteris, but she does a good job with a role that turns out to be a challenge. I mean for this type of movie.Most of the other leading actors do a good job. Fred Willard is, of course, Fred Willard. There's no one better. He can do nice and mean both. He's mostly mean.This is a family movie, even if it has a few minor curse words and some dialogue about adult issues. It would be fine for kids to watch, though I doubt they'd be that interested.About the music: it doesn't make me happy for the most part. Loud rock with lyrics that happen to be about Christmas does not qualify in my book as Christmas music. Classic holiday songs, even celebrating the real meaning, do not work if they are even louder rock. Or even if they are soft and sound like they are being sung by a robot. And of course there is the fashion show, with fashion show music (for lack of a better word), and not a hint of the holiday that I am aware of.I did mention the holiday's real meaning is celebrated, and Noel makes a point of saying who her boss is. And Faith only believes in things she can see, though she DOES go to church ...We do get to see Laura's family celebrating with her mother when she calls. But Laura doesn't want to be there. I can say she has the family she needs where she is.This is really worth seeing.

For a really safe, toothpaste commercial type of holiday family movie, I suppose this was okay. But, for those of you who enjoy believable acting, and a storyline that is at least somewhat decent.....steer clear!The acting is so unbelievably awful, I found myself laughing out loud all through the movie. It was so bad in fact, that I almost felt at times like it was intended to be that terrible....like the actors were mocking a lifetime flick.Can I have one Christmas wish? Can I get back those two hours of my life? If like to do something more interesting, like watch some paint dry or something.

12 WISHES OF Christmas is about a woman (Elisa Donovan) who calls a life coach for help after she's fired by her boss (Gabrielle Carteris). The life coach helps her by granting her 12 wishes to help fix her life. Predictably, she wastes the wishes on things like winning the lottery, and a new car. She also selfishly wishes for her boss to be fired and her annoying neighbor (Michael Gross) to get kicked out. The twist is, once she's out of wishes, she has to go back and fix her mistakes without the help of magic.I thought this was a great Capra-esque fable with a strong message and great cast. It's a lot deeper than I expected and takes some unpredictable turns along the way. There's also a touching love story with a surprise outcome I won't ruin, but you won't see it coming. Fun script, great direction, I highly recommend this movie!