Saw 'The Twelve Trees of Christmas' as a fan of Christmas and due to liking the concept. Despite it sounding like familiar ground, it also sounded quite cute. Have liked both Lindy Booth and Robin Dunne in other things, despite having hit and miss filmographies. The title is pretty cheesy and am not a fan really of Mel B and the type of role she's in here just screamed of disaster. Lifetime is very hit and miss, but when they hit they are surprisingly good. When the films are not good, they are really bad.
'The Twelve Trees of Christmas' is neither surprisingly good or really bad, and is neither one of Lifetime's best or worst. It's in the middling, mixed feelings category, with the two leads being absolutely no problem and with some other nice things but let down by a not particularly good supporting cast and an uneven story. There is very, very little offensive with 'The Twelve Trees of Christmas', there is also very little exceptional about it too.
Its best aspect is the two leads. Both Booth and Dunne give very engaging performances, Booth is a ray of sunshine and to me she didn't overdo anything (other female leading ladies for Hallmark have fared far worse than this) and Dunne has a natural charisma and charm. Both characters are easy to get behind, or at least to me they were, with flaws not being overdone and neither character is too perfect either. Their chemistry sparkles and the relationship develops realistically, proven too in 'The Sound of Christmas'.
Production values are lovely, particularly the photography. Enough of the music is fitting with the atmosphere and more subtle in placement and tone than a lot of Lifetime Christmas films, that are known for intrusive music (though not as bad or as frequent as Hallmark). There are heart-warming and charming moments, namely with Booth and Dunne. Shauna MacDonald is nice support and gives the only good supporting performance.
On the other hand, the rest of the cast are poor. Casper Van Dien looks as though he wandered onto the wrong set and even looks bewildered. While Mel B is a complete miscast, the role does not suit her and she spends the entire time looking miserable. The story is on the thin side and does little new with familiar ground, also don't understand the relevance of the title with it being a complete mismatch with the premise. The Christmas theme is sorely underused and plays second fiddle to the demolition conflict, which lacks tension and is overripe. Would have liked more development to the central relationship, the chemistry is absolutely there but the writing of the relationship seemed rushed and underwritten.
Apart from Booth's and Dunne's, the characters are not interesting and are quite unpleasant due to exaggerated flaws and the way they're acted. Mel B's especially is pretty pantomimic, and Van Dien's is really quite strange. The dialogue is rather awkward and also comes over as bland. The final act is predictable and contrived and the can be seen from way off ending comes over as too pat.
Concluding, not bad but fairly average. 5/10.
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