Fiancés malgré eux

I won't lie, this is a Hallmark romance that grew on me. The reluctant ad campaign team of Anna Bowman and Sebastian Laurent are sent to Paris to win the Durant diamond company's advertising contract for their expansion into the American market, by their boss. The boss was hoping that Sebastian would help Anna get back some of her creativity ("color with all the colors in the box") and that Anna would help Sebastian learn to "color inside the lines". Their styles couldn't be more different, but after a misunderstanding in front of their new potential clients the two have to pretend to be married...even to Sebastian's estranged French family.

The Paris backdrop is truly lovely and the costumes were wonderful! I particularly liked the black and white striped dress worn by Anna in Paris. I thought her friend in Paris was unnecessary, but I did really enjoy the glass of water scene.

This was surprisingly romantic and really grew on me, as initially I wasn't sure about the lead...but I really warmed to their chemistry and highly recommend this slow burn romance. I particularly enjoyed the end as a romantic.

I was so looking forward to this movie. I really like Alexa PenaVega and the movie was filmed in Paris. Beautiful city and great food.

The movie is about two advertising people trying to get a major France jewelry account and accidentally pose as a married couple. The ads looked funny, but although the one-liners were cute, there was no chemistry between the actors.

I watched for half the movie and gave up. The characters were sooo boring, the story was sooo boring, no chemistry and I just couldn't keep any interest. Terribly disappointed. Total Meh movie.

Hopefully Hallmark starts doing better movies for Alexa PenaVega.

The uncomfortable plot really doesn't suit Paris - if the leads had simply been straightforward colleagues that fell in love whilst interviewing couples at romantic locations for the ad campaign, it would have made better use of the city. Instead the frequent bickering and stressful interactions the two have with each other and secondary characters, is just irritating and spoils memories of the place for those of us who've been. It doesn't make me want to go again, and nor see this production through, and definitely not rewatch. It's a missed opportunity really, as there could have been a great movie produced with this team if the script had been more uplifting.

I'm glad I didn't listen to the other snarky reviewer who hated this movie. I absolutely loved this movie. Lately, many of the Hallmark movies seem to have cookie-cutter plots (and I still like those most of the time), but this was fresh. The actors had great chemistry, the music fit the movie very well (I kept Shazaming the songs... they will make a great Parisian playlist), and the scenery in Paris was amazing. I'm sure I'll watch it again soon, I liked it that much! Was it perfect? Of course not, what movie is. But for Hallmark, this was one of their best yet! If you enjoy music, romance, and beautiful scenery, you'll love it! It reminded me of an old fashioned romance.

7.4 stars.

We are very familiar with this plot, two people are acquainted, co-workers, or friends etc... they pretend to be dating, engaged, or married etc... "A Paris Proposal" happens to take place in a city in France, can't quite remember the name....the two subjects are co-workers with polar opposite personalities. They work for an American company, although he is French, artistic and worldly, whereas she is American, analytical and perfectionistic. Match made in heaven. He has a very strong accent, but it's polished enough that he is understandable.

They fly to Paris and are in the middle of a sales pitch with a major jeweler, when a slight coincidence leads them down a rabbit hole of lies. In the spur of the moment they make the best of a difficult situation, but are now stuck pretending to be married in order to score the deal. Are they capable of fooling everyone, including the antagonist? As the stakes get higher, the ruse begins to unravel.

The leads have sufficient chemistry to make this an interesting film. It is somewhat entertaining, and the background is picturesque with the incomparable cityscape of Paris. Some of the dialogue is lost in translation; you can detect many innuendos and interactions being studded with French influence. That aside, "A Paris Proposal" is charming and delightful. The allure of PenaVega wearing a $23 Million dollar pink diamond and a fashionable dress was reason enough to stick around. Unfortunately, something intangible is missing.