El duodécimo día de Navidad

This is my 10th Hallmark Christmas movie of the 2020 season. Overall, it was very good; it is at the top of my list thus far. The plot/story was predictable, as one expects with Hallmark movies, but it kept me engaged thru-out. The acting was really good overall. As usual, Tyler Hynes's performance (a Hallmark regular) was very good. He is one of my favourite Hallmark male leads. I know Mallory Jansen from the sitcom Gallivant, where she played the Queen. She too had a great performance. Moreover, they had chemistry, which has been a problem with a few of the Hallmark Christmas movies this season thus far. The script was well written too, especially the dialogue between the two leads. I do have one critique here: the writer(s) should have known that the 12 days of Christmas start on Christmas day; they are not the days leading up to (and including) Christmas day. I am surprised how many people do not know this. Finally, the movie is enjoyable to watch and instils a bit of Christmas spirit. Fans of Hallmark Christmas movies will not be disappointed.

I want to create scavenger hunts around cities- sounds fun! This movie is current, even for a Gen-Xer like me. The acting/directing at the beginning was a little uncomfortable as the actors were acting or directed to act in very stereotypical ways - the grumpy work alone guy and the friendly insecure woman. It got better pretty quickly.

At first, our heroine, played by Audrey Hepburn lookalike, Mallory Jensen, got on my nerves with her lack of gumption, and too-sweet personality. At first I thought she was miscast as a girl with a mousy personality when she was so gorgeous. I guess she was, really, but the actress did somewhat overcome it with a nice performance. Then, to make it worse, Tyler Hynes, a favorite of mind, also got on my nerves. He was closed off, anti-social, and not a team-player. Even though he wanted a promotion to a position that necessitate the opposite of those personality traits! Oblivious. He, on the other hand, was cast perfectly, as he usually brings a gruff edge to his roles.

I stuck with it though and I'm glad I did. As Aiden and Jennifer started to work through their differences, and he learned to work with her, appreciating her talent, their opposite personalities added to their chemistry. Quite early on, Jennifer started to be more assertive, so it did not descend into never-ending frustration for me.

This was well written with an interesting sub-plot of Aiden's family home needing repairs he couldn't afford, and a very clever scavenger hunt through Chicago that the two were working on together. Definitely well above average.

This is an interesting and fun story and not one snowball fight or wiping of icing off his/her face. Even without those tired Christmas movie crutches, the movie maintains a good pace because the leads have good chemistry together, and they're fun to watch as their relationship evolves. It's worth a watch

I'm glad to see a bit more creativity put into at least a few of the 2020 Hallmark Christmas movies. Typically the same plot is used over and over. But this one is unique and much better than average.

The plot involves two people who work for a game company who are put on a tight-deadline project to create a game for a new hotel in Chicago. They end up putting together a "12 days of Christmas" scavenger hunt that incorporates historic Chicago landmarks and neighborhoods. There were some clever poems/riddles as part of the game, and you get basically a travelogue of Chicago too. The leads were also both appealing and there was genuine chemistry with a nice romance arc.

This one deserves to go on regular rotation on your watch list.