Una giornata davvero speciale

I don't really think this is a 7 in the grand scheme of movies, but after watching 2 weeks worth of awful christmas movies with my wife, this one was a welcome relief. Some humor, some production quality, some decent acting, some heartwarming content. Should be at least a 6, so hopefully my 7 will bump it up a little

12 Days of Christmas Eve - think "Scrooge" meets "Groundhog Day".

This Christmas special is nothing special. Steven Weber plays Calvin Carter, a wealthy businessman who took a failing family store and turned it into a thriving national chain. Of course, along the way, he left a lonely son, a bitter younger brother, an angry ex-wife and various other casualties.

After living "the best Christmas Eve" of his life, Calvin finds himself waking again that same morning with 12 chances to "get it right."

What follows is cute, but completely predictable.

I give it 6/10 - for having its heart in the right place.

No one would dare to try to remake the 1993 classic film, "Groundhog Day." But it was only a matter of time before someone thought to use the same idea in a completely different way. That's what the makers of "The 12 Days of Christmas Eve" have done. Calvin Carter gets 12 Christmas Eves over to determine if he will wake up on Christmas day or not.

The plot is fair, if a little far-fetched. Carter hosts a Brazilian company representative to see if his company will break into Latin America. As in the inspirational movie, he gets the day to live over and over as he tries to make it his best Christmas Eve ever. The comedy isn't on the level of the "Groundhog Day" and some of it is corny. Nor is the cast on the level of the earlier film.

But there's enough humor, and a good enough script with actors who do a decent job. So, this Christmas movie isn't humbug at all, but enjoyable light fare. The whole family should enjoy it.

Steven Weber (Sexual Life) just doesn't get it. He is condemned to repeat Christmas Eve over and over until he does.

Bill Murray did that in Groundhog Day and did it in a fashion that would make every imitation, including this one, pale in comparison.

It was a nice try by Director Martha Coolidge (Material Girls), but it simply fails to have the magic that Murray brings to the table. It's not knowing what is going to happen, because you know what is going to happen in A Christmas Carol, and yet you can still watch multiple versions and enjoy them. Murray so stole Groundhog Day that you just can't watch an imitation. I really found myself watching the clock and saying, "When it going to be the 12th Day?"

Molly Shannon (Evan Almighty, Year of the Dog) was great as the angel, as was Stefanie von Pfetten (40 Days and 40 Nights) as Weber's girlfriend. And Patricia Velasquez (The Mummy, The Mummy Returns) was sweet Christmas candy in a wasted role.

Like most peoples Christmas our Christmas revolves around traditions. One of our traditions is Boxing Day soup. We take all the leftovers from the previous day and with good stock make a thick, nourishing soup to eat. The result is a cheap satisfying meal that leaves you feeling full and happy for virtually no effort.

I mention this because this film is like a soup of other films. Groundhog day, Switch, Family Man, Scrooge, Scrooged, Christmas Do-Over and a few others thrown into the straight to TV blender and zhushed together to make a hearty broth of Holiday movie with a little cream on top to make it sweet. Its not original, overly sickly, clever or particularly brilliantly executed but the whole is better because of the sum of its parts.

Steven Weber is slickly cynical as Carter, getting frustrated as he can't figure out how to buy his way out of his predicament. Jesse Carter pitches just the right side of perfect without being smug as his brother looking after the Dad. Molly Shannon is totally likable as Angie. The kid is not utterly annoying. The whole cast pull together to make this chug along in an enjoyable way to reach the climax. There genuinely is a point where you think he isn't going to get there. But hey, its a Christmas movie it has to have a happy ending, thats the point. There's some nice little comic touches, and a couple of genuine laugh out loud moments. Not huge belly laughs, its not Christmas Vacation. Some of it is quite dark, but you need the dark to make it light and sure enough it all works out.

Sure it drags a tiny bit in the middle, a lot of films do, and not every single thing works but in the main its a perfectly nice, perfectly good, perfectly watchable film to get you in the mood for Christmas that you can watch round about the beginning of December and it'll make you feel all warm and fuzzy and full of that familiarity of Christmas. Just like Boxing Day Soup.