Chenoweth (a favorite of mine since Pushing Daisies) stars as E.J. Baxter, a high-powered New York publicist who seemingly has it all. A great job, a great fiancé and a great apartment in NYC. Well, you know what they say - if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. That's the case when E.J. catches her fiancé cheating with her boss at the office Christmas party and in one fell swoop, she loses her job and her man!
When her boss blackballs her in the New York public relations community, it seems her only choice is to take a PR job in Kalispell, Montana to help promote the mountain community to big businesses looking for a new twist on corporate retreats. Once she finally gets there (all mountain roads look alike to poor E.J.), she finds a warm community of caring people, not the podunk town she expected to immediately despise. Particularly, the Search and Rescue Team, comprised of the mayor and a bunch of local hunks, is a wonderful asset to the community and saves many lives each year. However, since they operate on a shoestring/volunteer budget and are about to lose the only helicopter they have available to use, E.J. decides that their bake sales just aren't cutting it and she comes up with the idea of a sexy calendar to raise funds. Now her biggest task is going to be convincing these tough guys to strip down for a good cause.
It won't be easy, but E.J. has a natural way of persuading people; well, all but crotchety Will Albrecht (Josh Hopkins, Cougar Town), the local "George Clooney." Although Will and E.J. are attracted to one another, they seem to be better at bickering than anything else. Since Will is the last holdout to get the calendar made (Mr. December, even), she'll have to do some mighty serious convincing and that'll be tough since they can't seem to even be civil to one another. To add to all of this, E.J. is having a hard time fitting in with the locals, even though she really tries. Friend and co-worker Jan Lucas (Anna Chlumsky, My Girl) is trying to help her by inviting her to local gatherings, but E.J. just doesn't speak the lingo. (Abseiling, pronounced "ab sailing" so does not require a nautical outfit.) However, E.J.'s plucky attitude and her heart of gold eventually win them all over.
12 Men of Christmas is cute, but it's a rental at best. The plot is completely predictable and a little bit forced at times, but Chenoweth is always a comic jewel and she doesn't disappoint here. Her chemistry with Hopkins isn't the stuff of legends, but the pair works well enough together. As far as special features go, there's not much. Just a Make Your Own 12 Men of Christmas Calendar application that you have to use by inserting the DVD into your PC. Personally, if you can't do it on your DVD player, I don't think of it as much of a special feature. That being said, when I tried to access this on my PC, I couldn't get it to work. It is because of the lack of special features that I really can't recommend a purchase as one viewing is all you need. If you are looking for a romantic comedy that doesn't set out to exceed any expectations, but works for a chilly night and a cup of hot cocoa, 12 Men of Christmas isn't a bad rental choice.
