Coup de foudre au marché de Noël

Cute storyline with lovely French backdrop but the wrong female lead ruined it for me. It is refreshing to see Hallmark embrace body inclusivity so I was rooting for the female lead but she didn't do the character justice. Very deadpan in her expressions - she was simply hard to like and root for as a character as a result.

I was also distracted by the wardrobe choices. I felt terribly for the female lead that they kept her in a boring neutral jacket the whole movie that was too small for her. You could see her adjusting it in every scene - it must have been distracting for her as well. Give the gal a colour that flatters her skin tone and actually fits her!

I had waited to watch this movie because the ads made it seem like it was going to be tough to watch. All I could focus on when seeing the ads is how the female lead is so monotone and has such a flat delivery.

Having watched the movie, I will say that this is certainly a problem that detracts from the story, which is unfortunate because I love the idea of more realistically sized women being leading ladies. The national average is closer to a size 14 than a size 0, I think they should have no trouble finding an average-sized woman who can deliver lines more convincingly. I've only seen her in this movie, so it's hard for me to know whether she's not a good actor or if she just wasn't good in this part. Who knows, maybe it was because they put her in a jacket that was 2-3 sizes too small that she was self-conscious and struggled to be comfortable as the character.

Also, I understand that characters must grow towards each other to fall in love on these hallmark movies but they started out at such different places. In the beginning he so clearly did not respect her and she came off as detached and disinterested so it was hard to buy into them being potential love interests or them being in love at the end. As I was watching, by the end I felt they gave off 'friend vibes' not 'hopelessly in love vibes'.

It's unfortunate because I liked the idea - it was different than the run-of-the-mill hallmark Christmas movie with the usual checklist of plot points - but the execution didn't live up to its potential.

This is another quest at Christmas movie combined with a jaded reporter. There are many other common themes, but somehow there was a bit of freshness to the presentation. Perhaps a lot of that is the setting in France and the inclusion of French traditions rather than the usual American ones. The quest goes pretty much as you would expect with one big exception but it held my attention.

What is it that makes Jaicy Elliot appeal to me while so many other reviewers don't like her acting? Perhaps my first impression of her in Romance in Style cemented my like for her. It certainly isn't because her appearance is like so many of the other gorgeous Hallmark stars. Yes, Lea is naive, and she is supposed to be. Yet there is a deeper wisdom there. And there is chemistry with the jaded Brant Daugherty's Mark. The dialogue is good.

One very common plot device in most movies with reporters isn't done here and I'm so glad. I don't want to give spoilers so I won't describe it.

I loved the ending. Again, I don't want to give spoilers so I won't say why.

6.2 stars.

Joyeux starts out with a lot of promise, but immediately I was deflated by the way they forced a potential adventure to become a flat non-event. She finds something by chance, but the chances of this would be about one in 10 billion, that's just a guess. Astronomical does not begin to calculate. You'll see what I mean. And then after she finds it, goes low key about the whole ordeal and then finally has to fight her way into getting the story, and is stuck with a guy whom we can see shares no chemistry with her. Then they are in France and the whole story had so many missed opportunities and so much potential was hamstrung. Just a really fowl production, something that could've been one of the greats. Wow guys, you really blew chunks on this one.

I'd normally award it 5 stars, but the acting was good, the little girl's games and pranks were refreshing, and the city scenes and backdrops were breathtaking.

Brant Daugherty is always good, I especially enjoyed him in the "The Baker's Son" and "Just for the Summer". I've seen Jaicy Elliot in a few rom-coms which have been hit and miss. Brant and his wife Kimberley wrote the script and I give them credit, it's different in a good way. At this time of year when Hallmark cuts Autumn movies short and rolls out Christmas movies that aren't very original, it's refreshing to watch one with a different plot.

The slow pace could have been deadly dull, but the leads and the supporting cast kept it interesting. It wasn't the ending we anticipated but it wasn't a cliched ending of "they lived happily ever after". Don't know where it was filmed, on a soundstage in the US with European exteriors, the old City of Quebec in Canada, Belgium or France, but nice locations.