12 Gifts of Christmas (2015) Reviews

• Likable leads and a watchable story

  phd_travel2015-11-30

  This year's Hallmark Christmas comedy romance is better than the average one and worth a watch. A struggling artist (Katrina Law) becomes a personal shopper as Christmas approaches. Her first client is an driven ad exec and of course romance ensues. The cast is likable and attractive. Katrina Law plays the artist turned personal shopper. For those who watch 'Arrow' where she plays a fierce warrior woman with a pseudo British accent, this role is a complete 180 and she shows she is versatile and can play the cute romantic lead. She makes a believable looking couple with Aaron O'Connell as the ad exec who works too hard. Donna Mills plays his mother and she looks amazingly young still. There is an obligatory drama just before the romance comes together about her 'art' which makes one ask what's the fuss about. Some Hallmark Christmas movies are too cutesy and the lead actors can be annoying but this one isn't one of them.

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• Good movie but one element bothered me

  PeterBradford12016-02-02

  A fine film to watch around the holidays, with two strong leads. But something bothered me. I mean, really bothered me. I'm not hating on Donna Mills, but she played the main character's mother. The young man is in his late twenties, no older. Donna Mills is made up/lit/diffused/whatever to look thirty years old. The woman in seventy-five. Women that age should not look thirty! She looked more like the character's sister than his mother. That distracted me so much, that's pretty much all I have to say in this review. Good film. Good lead actors. But, damn. Don't make a seventy five year old woman look thirty. It took me right out of the movie.

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• Painted by numbers

  Prismark102016-12-04

  Another one of these bland Hallmark Christmas films with adorable, good looking leads. Anna Parisi (Katrina Law) is an aspiring artist who is looking for that big break. We see her getting a brush off from a snooty art museum manager. She turns to her other talent which is personal shopping and develop that into a side business over the upcoming holidays. Marc Rehnquist (Aaron O'Connell) is a workaholic advertising executive who is always on his mobile phone, he briefly met Anna at a bakery and later employs her to pick out Christmas gifts for his family and friends. At first things are difficult as Anna gets a gift for a friend of his that was not in his list but it turns out that his friend actually liked the gift. So he then gives her a free reign to get the kind of presents his friends like, she also gets Marc to connect with his family who he has been distant with and increasingly they spend more time with each other and fall for each other. The plot develops as after a scathing business meeting Marc uses a special painting of Anna's in order for his ad campaign. She overreacts at first for some unfathomable reason even though it will giver her work some prominence. This is an affable film at Christmas but a bit beige with not much plot. However you cannot keep your eyes of Donna Mills who plays Marc's mother. She was 75 years old when she made this movie and with all the work she has had done she does not look like anyone's mother.

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• Katrina Law makes this worth watching

  Christmas-Reviewer2017-01-04

  BEWARE OF BOGUS REVIEWS & REVIEWERS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW. WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE PRODUCTION. TRUST ME THIS FILM IS TERRIBLE. NOW I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 400 Christmas MOVIES. I HAVE NO AGENDA. I AM FARE. When Anna, an unemployed painter, is unable to make ends meet, she is hired to become a personal Christmas shopper for Marc, an uptight corporate exec. As they work together, Marc learns that Christmas giving has less to do with the amount of money spent and more to do with the importance of the gift, while Anna discovers she might find success as an artist in a way she never expected. At first lead actor (Aaron O'Connell) reminded me of Brendon Villegas however after about 5 minutes I forgot all about that. Katrina Law looks like (to me) Olivia Munn and someone should cast them as sisters in something. AS for the film itself its is enjoyable. You know how this is going to end. I don't mind the predictable endings its the journey the film takes that is the most important. This film takes a familiar route. However what was nice is that the 2 main characters do not start off as adversary's. That is such a tired cliché now. In this film we learn that her (only) client wanted to be the next John Updike. She is a great painter. She wants (and still wants) to be taken very seriously as an artist. So you you think you know whats going to happen and it does but it is not exactly the ending you think it will be. Katrina Law is a welcome addition to the Hallmark stable of actors. Candace Cameron, Alcia Witt, Danica McKellar all seem to have a film a year. Now This is the 2nd Christmas film I have seen Katrina in. I liked the film "Snow Bride". This film is what you do expect from a Hallmark film. The casting in this film makes this better than the average Hallmark film. Suitable for all ages however males of any age will hate this. AS for me I was never bored but I was the film should have taken a few more chances. Now next year will I watch this again? Well I won't go out of my way to see it but if I stumble upon it I would watch it.

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• Cute but not based in Reality!

  kz917-12017-12-12

  This would fall under the heading of stupid cute. Katrina Law and Aaron O'Connell star as Anna and Marc. Anna is a painter that is moonlighting as a personal shopper and Marc as a workaholic with no time for fun or family. Marc ends up hiring Anna to shop for his Christmas gifts at $30 an hour. Reality Check #1 - I am in the wrong line of work! Sparks fly between the two over the course of the movie, will one of them make a move? Reality Check #2 - What kind of monster eats a cupcake with a knife and fork? Both of the main characters do!! Ugh. Other than those two gaping WTF plot points the movie was enjoyable.

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