Noël à Paris

At the heart of this enchanting film is a wealthy French businessman, portrayed by Karl E. Landler, who sweeps the all-American girl, played by the delightful Rebecca Dalton, off her feet and into the romantic splendor of Paris. This film delves into timeless themes of love, identity, and reconciliation, with a poignant subplot that explores the hero's strained relationship with his biological father.

Landler's European charm and suaveness becomes increasingly irresistible as the story unfolds, leaving a lasting impression. His authentic French accent adds a layer of realism that's often missing in similar films, making it an absolute delight for global audiences.

Rebecca Dalton, the spirited protagonist, embodying the classic romantic heroine with grace. The dynamic between them, especially against the backdrop of Paris (?) -even if some scenes are filmed stateside-evokes a sense of old-world romance that feels both nostalgic and wonderfully fresh.

Adding to the film's charm, Daphne Zuniga delivers a standout performance as Dalton's boss, infusing the story with humor and warmth. The subplot involving Landler's reconciliation with his father is deeply touching, adding emotional depth to this otherwise light-hearted narrative, making the film a truly memorable experience.

Still a Fan...

This was not a Hallmark movie. The video quality was actually awful. It looked as if the movie was shot 10 years ago. The CGI snow was ridiculous. It really added nothing to the story.

The storyline was not completely typical. There were some usual parts though: Dead parent and misunderstandings. The storyline, acting and music made me feel like I was watching a soap opera. There were series parts that I actually laughed at. Like when he's having that stern conversation with his father. It was so fake stern that it was laughable.

It was entertaining enough to watch once. All in all the acting, wardrobe and scenery (minus the snow) was done well. And minus her lit up country drapes in her bedroom. What was that? She seemed way more sophisticated than that. She was a model, so she probably had good money.

I don't "highly" recommend it. If you miss it, you miss it. If there's nothing else you want to watch, you may be entertained if you like soap operas and typical cheesy Christmas romance movies.

It looks like a lot of the French filming was done in Lyon and not Paris. Especially, by the river. You get a couple shots of the Eiffel tower and that is it. If you're looking to see a lot of Paris scenery, you will not find it. I was just there two months ago. That is how I figured out they were shooting in Lyon. Scenery was not matching up to what I saw, so I did a little digging. The Café 203 they eat at is in Lyon. When you look at pictures of the river in Lyon, they totally match up with what was shown in the movie. Lyon actually looks more Italian than French. It looks a lot like Florence. At first I thought it was Florence but then I looked up the café. There is only about one or two minutes of French scenery shown.

I loved the plot, but it somehow felt rushed. The ending happened all at once, when in reality, it would have taken longer to get to those points, both with the engagement and his dad. I can get with a fast engagement if it's believable, but the chemistry just didn't sell it.

This is a straight up Harlequin Romance Movie and as such it's pretty OK. And I don't mean the Hallmark movies based Harlequin novels. This is right out of of the playbook that produced about 11 or so TV movie romances in the 1990s and early 2000s that Hallmark had nothing to do with. Since I saw this on ION television it really does have that different and old-fashioned approach to a romance. The hero was very attractive and a stereotypical early prototype romance hero: A Rich, Powerful, Mysterious Playboy who is a genius at business. He falls for "normal(ish) girl: beautiful, good, and spunky. it was well-cast and fun. I liked the side story of our hero hating and then reconciling with his biological father(who really looked the part as well) and the asthma angle. For anyone who liked this movie, I urge you to look up these old Harlequin movies some of which are available on You Tube.

Christmas In Paris (2019) -

Having been a tad distracted by a jigsaw puzzle the last time I watched this one, I thought that I would try it again, but I actually found it even worse on the second viewing, because I could clearly see the faults this time.

Overall I found the production values to be lacking, with sets that didn't seem appropriate for the successful business people that they were playing and the camera filter was too pale, while the soundtrack was really cheap. There were also some very odd wardrobe choices too.

The lead female, Rebecca Dalton wasn't exactly the stunning actor that I would have expected to play an ex model and I didn't really like her character much either.

And he was very "French", that is to say, brusque, even though he was trying to flirt with her. The last time I reviewed this I commented how attractive he was and although I don't think my tastes have changed that much, I have to say I must have been a few glasses of wine in, because actually his character was not very pleasant, which made him unattractive physically too.

The story was actually a sweet romance and with potential, but let down by all the issues that I saw. They obviously spent the budget on actually going to Paris, which was something I suppose, unlike 'Christmas in London/A Christmas Exchange' (2020), which was just dire.

And the character of Gerald was made out to be some kind of 'Godfather' character as well, which I found very weird and distracted from the main romantic storyline. It was very dramatic and Randy Thomas in the role gave a terrible acting performance.

Also, and once again it seemed, the argument that broke them apart, that we all knew was coming, was daft and she sulked a lot, far too much for one film.

It doesn't look like I will be revisiting this one for a third time, as there are too many to watch that are much better from this genre.

4.07/10.