T&K's XMas (2020) Advent Calendar: Day 5 - On The 12th Date of Christmas

 Oh no! A Hallmark movie already? And not even 5 days in... sigh.  Kind of insidious

 

The Story:
Jennifer is a recent transplant from Iowa, working as a game designer for a Chicago firm but still struggling with the pull from her Grandmother to return home.  She feels a need to prove she's successful, and is eying up the recently vacated lead designer job to do so.

Aidan works at the same Chicago game design firm and is likewise angling for the lead game designer job.  When Aidan's partner suddenly has to vacate a project to take paternity leave.  Aidan is reluctant to take on Jennifer as a new partner, and he seems to be a bit of a sardonic crank and dismissive of the new girl.  

The project they have to work on together is to help promote a hotel's Christmas ball, and the pair come up with the idea for "The 12 Dates of Christmas", a couples scavenger hunt App that will take them through historic Chicago locales that are themeatically relevant to each of the "days of Christmas" in song.  While it doesn't quite seem like what a real game design company would be doing...honestly, the end result actually makes quite a bit of sense.

Obviously, Jennifer and Aiden traipsing around Chicago figuring out each of the clues for their client allows them to burst their preconceived notions about each other, learn about each other's lives and families and to start feeling a little sweet on each other.

There's little background aspects floating around as well, Aidan's sister is struggling to maintain their departed grandfather's house, her husband away in service, so Aidan is doing what he can to keep it from being condemned.  Jennifer tries to connect with her neighbour, an elderly man who seems to keep ignoring her.  Somehow, both situations actually work organically into the overall plot.

The 12 clues are created, Jennifer's grandmother comes to Chicago to visit, turns out the old man had hearing aids that he takes out and runs a Christmas tree farm, Aidan's grandfather was a beloved teacher to architects and plumbers and electricians who agree to help repair the century-old home, and both Aiden and Jennifer get different promotions...and each other.

The Draw:
Aiden is played by Tyler Hines, who played Long Dick Dierk last season in Letterkenny.  Even though he (spoiler alert) cheated on Katy, I still liked Hines' vibe so I wanted to see what he'd do in a Hallmark.  A few moments into the story I realized I'd seen Jennifer before too... Mallory Jansen was Queen Marlena in Galavant which I tremedously enjoyed (and enjoyed her in).  So watching these two together seemed an easy enough decision.

The Formulae:
The plot of two colleagues vying for the same position is classic RomCom stuff, however, it barely comes into play here. That they have to work together which draws them closer is obvious.  And Aiden being a bit of a jerk to her to begin with...yeah, that's typical too. 
Jennifer is super friendly and sweet and bakes cookies for everyone and connects well with clients...which turns out to be more than just cliche character trait but a key ingredient throughout the show for client satisfaction and ultimately the promotion she was wanting/

Unformulae:
Since their whole scavenger hunt was about doing things different and unexpected, they don't do the playful snowball fight and cookie baking that typically bring people together in these types of movies...instead they drink and eat and paint and try out the events they're going to ask people to do. 

Also, it would have been obvious if Jennifer had set her Grandma up with the recently widowed old neighbour man, and though it seems the moment she thinks it is there, it doesn't actually play out.

Also, the third act complication is absent.  The only complication is she thinks Aiden got the promotion over her (where he instead got a different promotion).

True Calling?
Sure. This should not be confused with the new reality dating show, The 12 Dates of Christmas, because yeah, it's a Hallmark movie...and I can almost guarantee they were originally operating with the title "the 12 Dates of Christmas", since that's the name of the app.

The Rewind:
That kiss at the end... smoking hot.  Jennifer interrupts Aiden mid babble, grabs him by the back of the head and they go for it.  I have not seen an honest to gosh passionate kiss in a Hallmark movie.  They're usually so tepid and chaste, but this was... well, sexy.  Holy shit... it was hot. 

The Regulars:
Turns out Tyler Hynes has done a whole bunch of these things.  I guess taking a role of someone called "Long Dick" was to try and shake up his Hallmark image a little.  But he's really charming... he's got a real Nathan Fillion thing going... very chill, but effortlessly charming.  I like the little end of scene quips he dishes out  here and there, obviously improvised but so cute.

Melissa Marie Elias plays Jennifer's roommate Carla, and she's great.  She's done a couple of supporting roles in these Christmas romances, but she seems like she can easily hold a lead.

Jan Skene (Grandma Sue) has a whole batch of recent credits including the Judge in Two Turtle Doves last year.

How does it Hallmark?
Compared to other Hallmarks? This is top notch.  This is one that seems like it was actually thought through at the scripting phase and the level of depth they give to both Jennifer and Aiden is beyond the usual simplicity of other Hallmark leads.  As well, I actually found their process of figuring out a "clue" for each of the 12 days of Christmas to fit into a "date" to be really engaging, like a non-threatening mystery that needs to be puzzled out.  And that the production managed to move past the "we don't understand the reality of this business" and actually wind up with something plausibly workable as a real (if limited use) app was pretty great.

Points off for not using a real drum corps for the music of the 12 drummers drumming, though.  These productions always cheap out on the music.  Also points off for not really exploring Chicago.  A real film with a real budget would have really explored real spaces in Chicago...being a virtual tour for the viewers, which alas, this restaging of Toronto (I think) was not that.  It did seem like the screenwriter actually had some viable Chicago knowledge though.

[Edit: I also forgot to mention that Mallory Jansen is Australian, and, well, if you read my Holidate write up, you know how much I like the Aussie charm.  I wish she would have portrayed an Aussie in the production instead... I think it would have made the tug to go home even stronger, and made her just that much more an outsider Chicagoan.  But then these Hallmark films are really supposed to be "rah-rah 'merica" so plugging a foreigner into place is not something you see...unless they're a prince.]

And that kiss... whoah...that was the best all-time Hallmark kiss for sure.

How does it movie?
Meh.  If they went full Chicago love letter, and shot it with the good cameras, it would still have to work hard to even approximate cinematic fare. 
But that kiss...that's a grade A movie kiss any day.

[Edit: what is this weird Hallmark-created talk show...