The 12 Days of Christmas Eve - A Movie Review

How many times am I going to have to relieve Christmas Eve?

The 12 Days of Christmas Eve found its way into theaters in 2022. Brian, a wealthy businessman has no time for his family. One Christmas Eve he gets in a car accident. Santa Claus has an offer. If Brian repeats Christmas Eve 12 times, he’ll give him another chance at life.

I was ready to derail The 12 Days of Christmas Eve for being a repetitive story. Plus, there’s already a film with the same time and premise released in 2004. Turns 0ut, I really enjoyed this story along with the message.

Kelsey Grammer plays Brian. He’s a man who chooses work over spending time with his family. Aside from it taking a while for Brian to learn his lesson, he genuinely learns how important family is. Grammar was great in the role. He made it an enjoyable film with his performance.

Playing his daughter, I didn’t know that Spencer Grammer was Kelsey Grammer’s real-life daughter. This made their interactions all the more realistic. When she was a kid, her father never had much time for her. I thought that it was a good idea that Michelle was disappointed that now her father was enjoying his time with them. Forgiveness takes time.

I adored interactions between Brian and his granddaughter (Uschi Umsheild). Despite the curse to relive Christmas Eve, this time gives Brian the chance to reconnect with his family. Relationships between grandparents and their grandchildren are so important. It’s given a positive representation in this film.

Mitch Poulos (Santa Claus) and Grammer had fun with their scenes. Each time Brian dies, he lands in a festive room at the North Pole. To teach Brian a lesson, Santa makes him improve his habits. He has a snarky sense of humor all right.

As for most of the ensemble, yes they have to repeat the same scene over and over. All who were involved put in good performances. Writers establish all the characters. They were all the usual stereotypes, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying them.

Since Brian has to die twelve different times, writers had fun thinking up different ideas on how to kill Brian off next. I was laughing each time Brian fell back into Santa’s workshop for yet another lecture. I am both surprised and impressed that the writers did not repeat any of the deaths from the 2004 film.

The 12 Days of Christmas Eve is humorous. There’s more background humor than you think. The humor changes from fun and witty until turning into crude physical gags. Some viewers may find Brian’s death scenes triggering.

In contrast to the 2004 film, Dustin Rikert focused more on Brian making amends with his family instead of his work needs. This was the 2004 film’s main flaw. The film gets tedious but that’s to be expected in time-loop stories. This story is a break from the Christmas romance stories.

The story for 12 Days of Christmas Eve is wholesome. I did not expect it to be so heartwarming. I’d watch this again during the Holiday season. And again. Heck, maybe I’d watch it twelve times!

Spend time with family, especially around the holidays. That’s what Christmas is all about. The 12 Days of Christmas Eve accomplishes the festive moral. There’s a lot more to take away from this film.

Give The 12 Days of Christmas Eve a chance. Don’t give up on it. I was not going to watch it until I saw a positive response from viewers. Make it your Christmas Eve film.