“It’s like drunk dialing without the alcohol.” Advises Kate’s best friend Miyoko, after Kate has informed her that she has just made a desperate and uninvited Christmas Eve phone call to her ex-boyfriend. Quirky banter like this, teamed with a fun and interesting story is what makes the 2011 made for TV holiday piece, “12 Dates of Christmas,” a delightfully warm and thoroughly enjoyable seasonal flick.
While not challenging for Academy Awards or critical praise, “12 Dates of Christmas” is the type of film that you’ll hate yourself for loving and no doubt permanently be fixing it in your December movie collection.
Starring the loveably fun and perfectly beautiful Amy Smart, “12 Dates of Christmas” takes elements from the classics of feel good Christmas nature; doing the right thing, helping others, and finding love all with a backdrop of tinsel, and fuses them together with an otherworldly binding of science fiction and Holiday season magic.
It’s Christmas Eve in New York City (where else) and Kate (Smart) has found herself in the midst of a holiday crisis. As she prepares herself for dinner with her father and his new wife, she is also lamenting the fact that she’s single. As Kate trudges through the stress of Christmas Eve with an assortment of rude and selfish acts, the night concludes with her messing up a seemingly great opportunity on a blind date. But a magical mishap allows her to continue to relive the events of Christmas Eve – and she’ll continue to relive them – until she gets everything right.
“12 Dates of Christmas” is overly predictable and ripe with mush, and that, along with its great cast, is what makes it a perfect Christmas film. I couldn’t take my eyes off of Amy Smart, whose beauty dazzles in a mesmerizing way. Smart has appeared in countless movies and television shows and seems okay with her lot in Hollywood as a bench player – a fun actress who takes the types of roles Meryl Streep or Jennifer Lawrence wouldn’t sniff at, but are nevertheless important in the grand scheme of entertainment.
While the story exclusively revolves around Kate and her Christmas Eve, other players in the enchanted mishap serve as vital ingredients. Mark-Paul Gosselaar of TV’s Saved by the Bell fame plays Miles, Kate’s blind date who, in true Christmas form, comes across as a perfect and ideal candidate for love.
Long since grown from his days as Zach Morris at Bayside High School, Gosselaar fits the role of the all around nice guy Miles with effortless ease. From his attempts at being a chivalrous gentlemen suitor to Kate to his coaching of a youth hockey team made up of kids from an orphanage, you’ll be shouting at Kate to stop wasting time trying to woo her ex and open up her heart and her eyes to Miles.
As Kate finds herself trapped in an endless Christmas Eve loop, she starts to see that others around her are in just as much, if not more need of assistance then she is. There’s the lonely neighbor woman, her new stepmother, and her loveless best friend Miyoko (Laura Miyata) to name a few. Kate has plenty to change to make this Christmas joyous for others, and twelve tries to make it all work.
As holiday stories go, “12 Dates of Christmas” is a surprisingly perfect piece. Its full of joy, merriment, and all around fun, and definitely has replay value each and every Christmas season.
