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.

The plot was set at Christmas but Christmas had little to do with the plot. Ditto Paris. Don't you love it when the native, French-speaking actors speak English when they're alone? (I guess subtitles can get tricky even when used elsewhere in the movie.) The two leads were good looking but the romance moved too fast. One critic pointed out the Harlequin-romance-type hero and that was so true! Tall, dark, handsome, wealthy, etc. Etc. Glad she had a good job & didn't need to be rescued. The hero's asthma was an unusual frailty to give him; ditto the biological father/son relationship. I did like her Dad & his real grief for his dead wife. Sorry, but if I was his daughter, I'd tear up every time he did, but she didn't muss her makeup. I found the party people funny as they stood behind the couple during his proposal, her refusal, his insistence & finally her capitulation. These people would be watching in anticipation, cheer his proposal and then go back to chatting as the hero pleaded his case. In real life, I think anyone near the proposal drama would be glued to it. It was indeed a Harlequin romance.

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.