Si Noël m'était conté

Cheri Jamison rallies the residents of her beloved Manhattan neighborhood to participate in a Christmas tree contest when her cherished local library is abruptly set for demolition. Cheri finds herself up against an ambitious developer Tony Shaughnessy.

The film is a little slow. However the lead is very beautiful person and she has a charm to spare. This film follows the Christmas Film Template but so what. What I liked most about this film was the ending where we see all these beautiful Christmas Trees.

The film is family safe. The film will most likely air again at Christmas time on LIFETIME. I would watch this again because again I love the ending & seeing all these beautifully decorated trees.

I really liked this movie, is soft, warming and gentle, it has a nice story behind it. As a season movie it is also original and fun. Something good for every age and it will amuse you during x-mas. The cast is good but not boring enough or crazy enough, each character seems balanced and was created nicely and all the actors who gave life to this character really deserve a hands down from the viewers. Not giving up much on the story it self this movie makes you think about all that is essential in life, all the joys, all the hopes, all the fun and also all the good stuff that we all have and that we should cherish all year long. This movie represents the things that we miss our days in society.

In a New York City community, during the Christmas season, pretty red-haired librarian Lindy Booth (as Cheri Jamison) receives some devastating news. The library where she works will be demolished to make room for a condominium, with two full bathrooms per unit. Behind this dastardly plan is materialistic, but attractive Robin Dunne (as Tony Shaughnessy). By the way, they are both unmarried. In order to save the library from run, Ms. Booth decides to have a Christmas tree decorating contest. The script attempts to explain how this is going to help reverse the demolition and gives some vague guidelines for the contest, but none of it makes much sense...

The most standard contest rules are broken, and nobody seems to notice...

"The Twelve Trees of Christmas" is dull and predictable, but several in the supporting cast get scenes worthy of a demonstration reel. Shauna MacDonald is most effective. For some reason, Melanie Brown (aka "Scary Spice" of The Spice Girls) assumes the villain role. The handsome Casper Van Dien wanders onto the set a couple of times. Best thing about this TV Movie is the work of director Michael DeCarlo and photographer Russ Goozee. They fill the screen with the colorful set decorations nicely and balance them with sleek floors and table tops.

*** The Twelve Trees of Christmas (11/16/13) Michael DeCarlo ~ Lindy Booth, Robin Dunne, Shauna MacDonald, Melanie Brown

A sweet but not saccharine nudge at the preservation versus development struggle in any major city, this movie slightly echoes the rivalries of "You've Got Mail" or "Two Weeks Notice".

Lindy is convincingly earnest and sweetly intelligent in the lead role, and she's balanced by Robin Dunne as the romantic lead (better known as Will from Sanctuary, another intelligent role).

The supporting cast are quirky but not stupidly so, and each has their own gently heart-warming story.

Casper Van Diem is there in name only, except for a moment here or there of very rare face time.

A worthy entry into the seasonal love-fest.

I get tired of the premises based on saving something especially saving a property from demolition for development. I love Lindy Booth. She might be my favorite actor although the top of that list is somewhat fluid. It is interesting that Lindy stars in at least two movies that are almost exactly the same premise and both with Robin Dunne. This is the first of the two.

Booth and Dunne have worked together several times. In an interview he said they are good friends. They certainly have good chemistry. Despite the fact that Tony is the force behind potentially destroying Cheri's library, the two spend casual time together and you guessed what develops.

As is common, saving the property involves a contest, this time tree decorating. Booth's Cheri has a mean rival. There are other budding relationships plus one that can use some rekindling. And there is an adorable kid who brings about a heartwarming moment. All these other subplots both keep the overall filled and yet detract from the main relationship. For me the tradeoff was not positive. Somehow the story lacks energy despite Booth who is known for her energy.

I can't remember seeing this in a while and I spend hours each Christmas season (including the Christmas in July ones) compiling my viewing list. I am raising my rating 1 star, which was already here but somehow without a written review which I try to do on every Christmas movie I watch.