By Geno McGahee
We are nearing the holidays and my time is running out as I do my holiday movie review spree. Is there still time? Yes there is and I found the time to watch and review the made for TV film “THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS EVE”, which borrows from a lot of other productions, but when it comes to a Christmas movie, the message is usually the same, and it’s a good message. So, I’m not going to take away any points for a lack of originality.
Written by J.B. White and directed by Martha Coolidge, THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS EVE concerns Calvin Carter (Steven Weber), a man so tied up in his work that he has neglected his son and has focused strictly on making money. He awakens on Christmas Eve and is ready to make a large deal with the Latin market. He meets up with Isabel Frias (Patricia Velasquez) to seal the deal, but he drags along his employee, Drew (Vincent Gale), who is forced to miss valuable time with his family. As this happens, he misses his son’s performance in a play and further hurts the relationship with his ex-wife and family overall. As good as things appear to Calvin, the things that truly matter are a disaster.
After a great day where he closes the deal, more or less, with Isabel, he leaves the corporate building of his business and gets killed when a large metal hand falls on him. He awakens to the smiling face of Nurse Angie (Molly Shannon), and he is immediately confused. He soon learns that he is not in a hospital. He’s being given a chance at a return to life if he can figure out the true meaning of Christmas in 12 attempts.
His selfish nature immediately shows as he uses the knowledge of the day to make progress in the business. He closes the deal with Isabel easily and even makes sure that he stops in for his son’s play. He dies again and appears back where he started from. He then begins giving away money to the people, lavish gifts to his estranged family and son, and even that doesn’t work. He is still missing the point.
On his last chance, he comes to the realization that he is going to die and that he will not see Christmas again. He becomes very reflective and sees his quest for what it was. He gave up everything, including his marriage and relationship with his family to chase money and to keep the business growing. He missed when his mother died and his father is going through dementia. That world passed him by as he stood still and kept making the big business deals. As he stands outside in the snow, the situation hits him very hard and the true meaning of the holiday overcomes him.
THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS is a mix of many stories, including SCROOGED, THE GRINCH WHO STOLE CHRISTMAS, FAMILY MAN and GROUNDHOG’S DAY, but it has its charm and the performances are very good. I especially liked Molly Shannon in her role. She was tough but kind and she was very easy to like. Weber did a great job and it was great to watch his character’s growth as the movie progressed. You start off hating him and are rooting for him at the end. That’s a successful performance.
There are better Xmas movies out there, but this one is not a bad one. It’s got a lot in common with FAMILY MAN with Nicolas Cage, with that one being far better, but THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS EVE is a good one to throw into your Xmas movie marathon if you have one. It might make you reflect on the season and the meaning.
Rating: 5.5/10
