Brooke Nevin & Robin Dunne star as Maggie and Mitch, who once upon a time were in college together and find themselves back in their hometown and begin to reacquaint their friendship. Maggie has only fond memories of Mitch, who helped her get home for Christmas when she was a freshman. Maggie always wondered what happened and why Mitch never came back to college... He also has no Christmas spirit whatsoever, so Maggie sets out to rekindle his spirit and hopefully some romance as well. She begins sending him anonymous packages full of Christmas cheer. To complicate matters the packages become a media frenzy and she is assigned to write a story on them for the local paper. Will Maggie tell Mitch before someone else takes credit for the cheer? Cute romantic Christmas flick.
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kz917-111 December 2017
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Pete-Claus26 December 2019The other high rated reviews already cover very well the movie plot and its strengths; no need for me to duplicate that discussion. What I do want to add is that while the eventual ending may be predictable, the plot twists and character responses along the way are not, so the movie kept me entertained and engaged all the way through to a very satisfying ending. Highly recommended.
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TheLittleSongbird26 May 2020Was really quite surprised by 'On the Twelfth Day of Christmas'. In a very pleasant way. While there are plenty of at least watchable Hallmark Christmas films, there are very few that are great and some of them struggle to even reach mediocre. So this could have gone either way. The title was not as corny as other Hallmark Christmas titles and the premise was sort of intriguing, even if fairly typical but in a different setting/basic scenario.
'On the Twelfth Day of Christmas' is no award winner or a masterpiece, but that was not expected. It is not realistic to expect that from a Hallmark film, Christmas or otherwise. It is a very charming and surprisingly very well executed film by Hallmark standards, and to me it is easily among their best festive efforts. Proof that Hallmark should be given a chance without prejudice or scorn, because there have been times where they show they have a good film in them and 'On the Twelfth Day of Christmas' is one of them, for reasons that have been summed up already.
Sure there are not an awful lot of surprises, but one comes to expect that from Hallmark. But whether that matters or not is dependent on the execution of everything else and this executes most of its everything else remarkably well. It's all very easy to figure out and it can get corny at times.
Did feel too that the central relationship took a little too long to develop, do agree that if it was clear that they felt the same way and in love earlier it would have made the reaction to the secret coming out more plausible. The reactions came too out of left field and extreme done in the way it was in the film.
However, 'On the Twelfth Day of Christmas' a lovely looking film, particularly the photography, and the music is fitting with the atmosphere and more subtle in placement and tone than a lot of Hallmark Christmas films, that are known for intrusive music. The dialogue has some corn but takes itself more seriously than most Hallmark films, with some welcome levity here and there, without being overly so and it has flow and heart. The acting is good, with engaging lead performances from Robin Dunne and especially the ray of sunshine that is Brooke Nevin. The Christmas theme is charmingly and sincerely handled.
The story is somewhat formulaic, but is very heart-warming and sincere. Also personally don't think it's that unrealistic, other Hallmark festive films are more guilty of that to much worse effect. Actually agree with another that Maggie's motivations regarding her job are understandable and even relatable, also topical in this day and age considering the nature and increasingly negative impact of media and journalism now. It is good to find a Hallmark festive film where it was easy to care for the characters, only losing it a little with Mitch at the point mentioned above, where there is actual growth with them (especially Mitch) and where there was actual chemistry between the two leads worth investing in.
Summing up, very well done. 8/10 -
Christmas-Reviewer3 January 2017BEWARE OF BOGUS REVIEWS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW. WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE PRODUCTION. IF ITS A NEGATIVE REVIEW THEN THEY MIGHT HAVE A GRUDGE AGAINST THAT PRODUCTION. NOW I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 200 Christmas MOVIES. I HAVE NO AGENDA. I AM FARE ABOUT THESE FILMS.
Maggie Dunlop is thrilled when her long time crush, Mitch, moves to her little town of Harrison. Once Maggie discovers Mitch and his love for Christmas has drastically changed, she vows to bring the holiday spirit back in his life. Determined to show him the magic of Christmas, she decides to create 12 Christmas gifts that ask him to do fun Christmas tasks in order to renew his love for the season and explore his feelings towards Maggie.
The plot if this film is hard to believe. Anybody with a 3rd grade education could figure out who there "Secret Santa" is long before the character in this film does.
What does work however is that the main plot is sweet and kind. In a nutshell a woman is trying to make someone happy who once lifted her spirits when she needed it the most.
This film has the typical "Hallmark Christmas Movie Ending" and that's "They open the door and there they are"
Listen the film is good its just not great. Family safe however most boys (and men) will hate this. If you are a romantic at heart then this is a movie for you. -
Jackbv12315 July 2017So predictable, yet so good. This is a creative twist to the twelve days of Christmas theme.
Brooke Nevin and Robin Dunne are great on screen together. You can see the chemistry all the way back in the college scenes, and it never lessens. And this movie puts them together a lot. So many other movies have the future lovers together for such small parts of the movie, but in this movie their relationship is almost always on screen, even if one of them is momentarily off the screen. This factor is a major part of my enjoyment of the movie.
And the story is so heartwarming and good. True it is corny. True, Mitch should have figured it out early in the game, probably after Briana confessed it wasn't her. And Mitch should have jumped on the relationship long before the secret was out. They were clearly already in love. Also Mitch and Rita's outrage are totally hypocritical, thus making their outrage a little unbelievable.
In a day where journalism has sunk to new lows and no longer presents honest or unbiased news, Maggie's crimes against journalistic integrity are so forgivable. Still her confessions on the front page are yet another sparkling ornament to the story, like the angel on top of the tree.
The Twelve Gifts not only helped Mitch to renew his love for Christmas, but bolstered mine as well. -
hqfedlegion-12 October 2019I. Love. This. Movie.
Is it predictable? Yes. But then it's not a murder movie where you are trying to figure out 'who dunit.' Maggie, played by the beautiful Brooke Nevin, is trying to figure why her college crush, Robin Dunne, disappeared after Christmas break and why, ten years later, he now hates Christmas. Her character is very typical of the sweet, nice, good girl who is crushing on a guy and the grand gestures she makes to make him see she is the one for him. She pulls it off beautifully and one hopes that is the real her as it seems to flow very easy for her. With Hollywood, who knows. But then, that is the magic of a Hallmark movie.
I love this movie so much as it reminds me of things I have done in the past; that I went to college and had crushes, made grand gestures (that didn't work) worked at a newspaper and that I love Christmas. How could I not love this movie!
My biases aside; this should be in your Christmas movie rotation. Predictable, cute, with good solid actors who seem to have chemistry. It also makes me want to watch other films they are in.
Another reviewer said you knew this was a typical Hallmark movie as the ending was that one opens a door and the other person is one the other side of it.
Isn't that want we look for and want, especially at Christmas? -
fishfryluv213 December 2015At the beginning of the commercial for this movie, which was featured on the Hallmark Channel, my wife and I thought that the lead was being played by James Van Der Beek, who had previously been in the movie "Varsity Blues". But when we actually paid attention to the commercial, we realized that it was just some guy. After watching that commercial, we referred to the that guy as a "poor man's James Van Der Beek". And whenever that commercial came on again, we would always say, "Hey, there's poor man's James Van Der Beek". In reading this IMDb page, I found out that poor man's James Van Der Beek is really named Robin Dunne. I'm not really trying to be insulting to Robin Dunne, or even to James Van Der Beek. It's just that Robin Dunne kind of looks James Van Der Beek when watching him on TV out of the corner of your eye.
I did watch a bit of this movie last night. It seemed that some woman was throwing herself at poor man's James Van Der Beek and he was just kind of shrugging his shoulders. She was also his Secret Santa even though he didn't consent to be in a Secret Santa exchange. Apparently he lost the Christmas spirit some time ago due to his parents joining some Satanic cult on Christmas day when he was younger or something like that. I didn't really pay attention, and my wife was asleep on the couch during the movie as well. We turned it off halfway through.
Personally, I think it would be great to have James Van Der Beek and Robin Dunne, the poor man's James Van Der Beek, over to dinner so that we could talk about how they look somewhat alike. They would probably get annoyed because that is all I would want to talk about at dinner, but whatever - I am feeding them, so they should be open to talking about what I'm interested in. Besides, I make a mean pot roast, so that would be worth sitting around for three hours and talking about how they have some similar features. -
watlingtonamy23 November 2019My first....yes first Hallmark Christmas movie I finished to completion. Gasp! In my 41 years of life. Just never really cared for them. I tried watching a couple but always just got bored. This was very good. I love the main girl character. She's quirky and cute and very believable. I am looking forward to watching more Hallmark bc of this. You will enjoy this so if given the chance watch it for sure!
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Directing, camerawork, script, set, edit and sound are all good - credit to those workers. False snow efforts were OK- at least it wasn't mashed potato. . The story moves along at pace and the cast does a fair job. Observations: (a) Curling tong use was out of control onthe set. Brooke's buddy girlfriend has hair so sprung, that she reminded me of the suspension on a Mexican rapper's street cruiser. (b) The male (35) gets teary about a bike (for 4 year olds) he sees in a shop window ( Script): "I wanted that bike more than Ahab wanted that Whale". Stunning insight on the whaling-cycling dichotomy.
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jonathanrspalding13 December 2016Of all the general plots of the Hallmark movies, Christmas and otherwise, my favorite is the quiet, reserved, crushing female lead doing battle with the aggressive, flashy, or sometimes even a little bit evil, hussy for the heart of a tenderhearted prince. This movie has that plot and a Christmas theme as well.
The three key factors that make a movie like this one are, is there a real romantic story, are the supporting characters or story lines funny and/or interesting, and is the plot relatively believable and the Christmas theme well done.
This movie has all three. While not laugh out loud funny the supporting characters do provide laughs and a base for the movie. The story is told in a subtle way allowing the characters to have a little dimension. It has a nice believable backstory that adds to its charm. It ties Christmas into its plot very well.
Needless to say the result is predictable but if you were looking for suspense you will not be watching the last ten minutes of this kind of movie. However, for a nice two hours of Christmas diversion while you are wrapping some presents, this will work. -
mommadaines9 November 2022This is definitely one of my favorite Hallmark Christmas movies. It's heartfelt and has such a great story line. I love the sweet relationship/friendship between the main characters and how Maggie wants to help Mitch through the sadness he feels at Christmas. The acting is genuine and you can't help but feel good as you watch the story unfold. I love the creative gifts Maggie makes Mitch for each day and the stories she writes for the paper on each one. An added bonus is she gets to participate in all the activities she suggests for Mitch since she's writing a newspaper story about each one. I love how their friendship develops as they spend time together.
I look forward to this movie every year! -
MickyG33323 November 2022Compared to all movies: 8.0. Compared to Hallmark Movies: 9.7.
I'm seeing a pattern, so my next task is to modify my rating system. Surprisingly half of the Christmas movies in my binge-fest are actually out performing what I anticipated. This film outdoes itself, and consequently is my new fav. I know more favorites will emerge as I continue this journey for another 90+ Christmas movies.
A naive college girl is the recipient of a selfless act of Christmas cheer. Her ride home falls through, but a male student, also a communications major, does her a big favor by giving her a seat on his way home for the holidays. They get stuck in a blizzard, and he gives her a mini-adventure to pass the time. Eventually she arrives home, and they part ways - leaving us to anticipate a pleasant reunion after the holidays.
To our surprise they jump 10 years forward. We discover he did not return to school, and they lost touch. As fate would dictate, they eventually bump into each other. He has accepted a job as a radio deejay in her hometown, and she is a writer for the newspaper.
She discovers that somewhere along the way he cultivated a total disdain for Christmas. Of course she is curious about this, and longs to inspire him once again. She decides to be his anonymous benefactor (secret Santa). What begins as a benign gesture, turns into the talk of the town. Word of her private gifting of the 12 days of Christmas spreads to the radio and the newspaper, and takes on a life of its own. All the while, nobody knows she is the secret Santa.
I was greatly trepidatious that the ending would be lifeless and trite, but astonishingly, it was wonderful. The endearing and heartfelt gestures that she fashioned were quite revitalizing, and I could not help but fall hopelessly in love with her irresistible, and adorable self. Refer back to the heading: Never had a secret Santa quite like this one. She comes right out of a fairy tale.
The mystery unfolds bit by bit leading to a wonderful climax at the end of this absolutely marvelous and elegantly wrapped film. I had to wipe the tears off of my rose tinted glasses a few times, but I deign not concern myself over it. The probability is very high that I have had a starry-eyed reaction to a disproportionately lovely creature named Brooke.
Yet another Christmas movie that will be assigned to my yearly Holiday watchlist.
One caveat for truly adoring this film: you must be in love with one of the lead characters. If not, this adventure may fall flat. Why? I figure it's because this movie puts all its eggs in one proverbial basket: the two main characters' ability to tug at your heart-strings.
What magical land of unicorns and fairies did a creature like Brooke Nevin venture out from? I mean, if I had to describe the perfect caricature of a Christmas love interest/angel/goddess...
And Robin Dunne, I'd imagine the ladies swoon over him similarly, especially for his radio voice, and satisfactory acting skills. He nails the part, probably from a female perspective. As a male, I can say he did ok. -
SleeplessinDenver19 December 2023Hallmark hit it out of the park with this one. Dunne is a college DJ who is full of Christmas spirit and who does a fellow student (Nevin) a good turn at Christmastime, and then inexplicably disappears. 10 years later, they end up in the same town, but now he has turned his back on Christmas. She can't understand how he became so sour on the holidays and is determined to help him get his Christmas spirit back.
It's a wonderfully done story from so many angles, and the chemistry between Dunne and Nevin feels very real. I've seen Dunne in several movies now. I would guess that he is probably not considered one of the Hallmark hunks, but he has an everyman quality about him and always seems to put forth solid performances. He and Nevin are very well matched in this one. The way she goes about helping him makes a lot of sense and is very heartfelt. And unlike some Hallmark movies where the romantic feelings seem to spring out of nowhere, the two actually spend a good amount of time together and the growing bond between them feels very legitimate.
I highly recommend this. With all the newer movies that Hallmark shows, it only seems to appear now a few times during the holidays so keep your eyes peeled and set your DVR. You'll be happy you did! -
pastordouglapointe22 February 2023Seems like I either hate Hallmark movies or love one so much I can't stop watching it over and over.
This movie is a watch over and over one for me. Loved it. The main two leads are wonderful. They are spot on in their acting and seem to get the plot and their characters exactly.
This is also a movie where several side actors are so excellent that they add a lot to the movie. For example the female lead's editor and male lead's program manager were amazing.
The plot is thoughtful, believable, realistic, and charming. It seems to have a sense of carefully constructed scenes throughout that make the entire production a joy.
There are few Hallmark movies that don't have a few glaring errors. But, you would be hard-pressed to find some in this movie. So, go ahead. Watch it over and over like me.