Une bague pour deux

There is a car accident in front of Tiffany. There is a mix up with two blue boxes. There are marriage proposals and non-marriage proposals. It's bad relationships and one budding sweet one. Rachel Meyer (Zoey Deutch) is a New York baker with a bad boyfriend. In Tiffany, Ethan Greene (Kendrick Sampson) is picking a ring with his daughter.

Reese Witherspoon's production company Hello Sunshine is trying to tap into the Sweet Home Alabama jackpot. This one is more a shot at Hallmark cheese than a rom-com hit. It tries to be more, but it fails at that. For me, the biggest issue is construction. I don't like the love quadrangle. A love triangle functions better. Vanessa's biggest sin for most of the movie seems to be the weather. The story needs to be rewritten into a love triangle. I would reimagine the Vanessa side by adding some tragedy. Ethan could be picking up the custom-made ring after Vanessa's tragic death. That would make the construction into a triangle. There are other issues. For example, the staging of the switch is a bit awkward. I would make the switch first before the accident. This rom-com also needs a better meet-cute. I have no suggestions, but there has to be a million better ones than this. I like Zoey Deutch and Kendrick Sampson's chemistry. They're a sweet couple. Gary is a horrible boyfriend which works well. There are elements here that could work, but the basic construction is flawed.

...nothing more or less.

It does its job as light rom-com fare for the purpose of cheery, festive, fuzzy-feeling, seasonal escapism.

Zooey turns in a convincing performance as always, and the supporting cast ranges from adequate to charming. There is the required chemistry between the two leads to make the romance believable.

The premise is, yes, schmaltzy, but there is enough real-life complexity in the plot/relationships to make this different from the average paint-by-the-numbers rom-com.

Not something that will probably leave a lasting impression, but not anything you'll regret spending some time with either, at least if you are aware of what this is...and is not.

Happy Holidays!

Frankly the trailer gives a bit too much away, but still ... Zoey Deutch (Lea Thompson's daughter) is Executive Producer and also stars as Rachel Meyer. She co-owns a bakery in New York City and has a boyfriend. One evening leading up to Christmas he is shopping at Tiffany's for an appropriate gift, he selects some nice but "affordable" earrings. He leaves the store with the gift in a nice blue Tiffany's bag.

At the same time a man visiting from Los Angeles, a professor and author, is picking out a nice, expensive ring for his girlfriend flying in, his plan is to propose on Christmas Eve. He and his young daughter leave the store with his gift also in a nice blue Tiffany's bag.

The first man gets hit by a cab, the second man sees it and rushes to his aid, both blue bags end up on the street surface near each other. They inadvertently get switched.

So this chance meeting and switching of bags sets all kinds of things in motion, causes lots of confusion, as the four principal characters and their friends and families work to understand what all happened and to sort it out. In the end, as nice pleasant movies always do, things work out for the best for all in the end.

My wife and I watched it at home, streaming on Amazon Prime. Nothing much novel, just pleasant entertainment.

I read the book in anticipation, but that was a bad move. I wanted more from the movie than was given. Without having read the book, it was painfully slow and missing action and subplot. I had to explain the missing plot to my husband to help him interested. Definitely better than a Hallmark movie but I still expected more. The actors are all right but there's no real chemistry and everything needed an extra rehearsal. The character arcs for some were not fleshed out and that really cut into the characters and flattened them. It is clean except for a couple of expletives, but I think only 2 or 3 total.

Fine movie, but anti-climactic and predictable. The last part was fine with me, as it is just a simple holiday movie. Throughout it, nothing made me feel anything-no excitement, no happiness, not even any anger. I feel Shay Mitchell's character bore the brunt of both lead character's development and journeys but alas...Zooey Deutch was fine as usual, quirky and compelling in her own ways. At the end of the day, it's a simple film about nothing that is enjoyable to watch and fun too. The daughter's age is confusing: she looks 18, acts 5 and sometimes 30, but is...13?? That's the only thing that annoyed me.