12 Men of Christmas

In fast-paced Manhattan, EJ (Christin Chenowith) seems to have everything going her way. She has a great job in publicity, a handsome fiancé and a very nice apartment. But, things fall apart, as they say. Her fiancé cheats on her with their mutual boss lady and there's nothing for EJ to do but throw back the ring and quit her job. But, a new problem arrives. When this beautiful blonde smartie goes looking for another position, of which there are plenty in her chosen field, she finds that she has been "blackballed" by her former boss. Now, she's lost her man and her chance of employment in the city that never sleeps. Fortunately, she has a caring sister who advises her to take a fine job offer from Kalispell, Montana's mayor. It seems this scenic town, not far from Glacier National Park, wants a publicist to bring more corporate retreats to their area. Thus, EJ will have a salary and she will be far away from those who did her wrong. She does it. Arriving in this very lovely place, EJ is astounded at the low rents and the warmth of the residents. But, naturally, there are very few restaurants and sight-seeing opportunities, other than the natural beauty of the mountains and fields. Therefore, EJ is initially stuck for a "good angle" on her quest for publicity. But, hold the phone! There is a bevy of good looking men who do volunteer search-and-rescue. One man is particular, Will (Josh Hopkins) has a great face and, er, bod. Yet, since EJ manages to offend him straight away, there may not be any romantic vibes coming. Even so, EJ hatches a tried-but-true idea for her job. Why don't they make a calendar featuring the men of Kalispell, in various stages of dress, doing rugged manly chores? Everyone eventually loves the idea except Josh. So, its soon underway to becoming a reality. Will it work for the town's benefit? Will EJ and Josh soon realize that sparks are flying despite first impressions? This is another fine entry into the realm of holiday romcoms. Since calendars have twelve months, there is indeed a wonderful dozen of handsome, charming men on display, which adds enjoyment to the fine work by Chenowith and Hopkins. The rest of the cast, including Anna Chlumsky, is nice as well. One could hardly miss the tremendous beauty of the Montana setting while the nice costumes, script, photography, and cheerful direction add their own assets to the movie. All in all, fans of romantic comedy will be the seventh, er, twelfth heaven with this cute little winner.

EJ (Kristin Chenoweth) is a New York publicist whose life spirals downwards when she catches her fiancé cheating with her boss.

Unable to get another job in New York she moves down to a small town in Montana doing publicity for the Mayor's office. The town is next to the Glacier National Park.

When the local rescue team who are all volunteers need to fundraise, EJ persuades them to pose for a calendar while finding romance with one of the locals.

As this is a Lifetime Christmas film. EJ is a fish out of water in a homely small town where rents are low, everyone is nice to each other unlike the rat race of New York where everyone stabs each other in the back.

The director knows enough to keep the men interested by having several cleavage shots of Chenoweth. Frankly two good reasons to watch a Kristin Chenoweth movie!

For others there are several beefcakes who pose for the calendar and it is done in the best possible taste.

Not sure how nobody else has mentioned this but the plot is predictable because it almost a straight map from pride and prejudice.

That doesn't make it bad - quite the opposite - just predictable. Basing it on this classic isn't unique amongst Christmas films - let's be honest, we don't watch films like this for originality anyway.

Kristin Chenoweth is her usual, bubbly self, the men are handsome and the scenery is beautiful. It has a decent secondary cast so of its type it's really not that bad.

If you like the rom-com Christmas films then you'll like this. My main gripe is it's really not a Christmas film only a very small proportion of the film is set at Christmas and it plays no part in the plot.

like many films from the same genre, it is a surrogate. romance, crumbs from classic comedies, pieces from Jane Austen, actors in skin of legends - Kristin Chenoweth as a version of Eve Marie Saint, Josh Hopkins as a form of Cary Grant. sure, very far by original, not realistic, with a story who seems far to be coherent. but nice. and this is the most important thing in this case. because it is the only thing who could be expected. the subject is so old, the performances are far to be bad and the idea has the chance to seduce. the war between E. J. and Will is fake but the aspects from a small community from Montana looking the work for a noble cause is not real awful but could be useful. so, a film for Christmas. and it is enough !

Have actually seen a fair share of Hallmark Christmas films that have been surprisingly good and more, so they are absolutely capable of having a good film in them, hence why they keep getting watched by me. Despite giving '12 Men of Christmas' a mediocre rating and am going to give it a fairly lukewarm review, it did have some potential even if expectations weren't entirely high because of the casting of Kristen Chenoweth (a big singing inspiration of mine).

'12 Men of Christmas' is neither one of the hits or one of the misses. There are definitely worse Christmas films from Hallmark, as it just about misses being in the mediocre at best or dud category, but there are also better as it is not quite surprisingly good level or particularly good. '12 Men of Christmas' is one of the just about semi- watchable in between films of theirs, but to me for a one time watch only for completest sake and for Chenoweth.

There are good things here. Chenoweth sparkles in her role, wasn't crazy about her character but Chenoweth gamely brings effervescent charm to her. Josh Hopkins is also charming and their chemistry is natural and sweet. Actually did think on the whole that the acting wasn't bad at all considering what was given to the cast.

Also thought the production values were very nice to look at, especially the scenery which is beautiful. The music is pleasantly festive.

On the other hand, '12 Men of Christmas' isn't particularly good. The biggest strike against it is the story, which is formulaic (due to almost every recognisable Hallmark cliche in the book, or at least that's how it feels like, and with no freshness) and painfully unrealistic to a quite silly degree. Did think too that some of what happens was forced and actually could have been left out and felt like filler. While thinking that the cast was game, the characters weren't well fleshed out.

More tired variation of familiar character types, and either bored or irritated. The male roles are all one dimensional and Chenoweth's character's quirks can be overdone. The fish out of water aspect was too alien from space randomly inserted in a location like. Furthermore, the dialogue goes well overboard with the cheese factor and comes over as really dumb and childish. As well as quite stilted. There is a lack of warmth and heart, which is all lost underneath all the silliness and contrivances, while there is absolutely no doubt how things will end and in a way that even for that ending feels too tidy.

Concluding, didn't do very much for me in spite of Chenoweth. 4/10.