Paris, Wine & Romance

This was a very well put together romance. I liked the story of a prestigious wine competition and the underdog Oregonian company taking the snooty French wine culture by storm. The whole set up seemed pretty authentic. And I do love wine, so I appreciated the little tidbits of info. I liked the tour around Paris. I'm not a big Jen Lilley fan, but her acting is OK. I loved the male lead. He was very handsome with a lot of Charisma. I just didn't think he "went with" Jen Lilley. Oh. I see she was pregnant when she filmed this. Nevermind. Lolita Davidovitch was very well cast as the glamorous but gracious loving mother, as was the brother. The resolution to the long distance romance problem was well set up and believable.

I just wish they had chosen another name for Jen's wine. "Ricci Ridge" sounded like "Richie Rich." It was distracting, though it did provide a few giggles.

Yes...I agree with others. It's hard not to notice her pregnancy.

My husband is from Oregon and when the main character said she is from the Willamette Valley, she pronounced Willamette all wrong. She pronounced it the way you think it sounds.

Sure, you always have a pretty good idea in general how a Hallmark movie is going to end and some of the tropes you will see along the way, but this movie threw in a few little twists, especially toward the end. I liked that.

Also, I think this kind of movie is always better if the romantic leads spend a lot of time together. The movies that get too caught up in other aspects of the story are not what I enjoy about this genre. This movie kept the two together even though I wouldn't say their chemistry was the greatest, but it was workable. Jen Lilly is just a little too reserved for great.

I watched the whole movie and didn't notice the baby bump, until I read reviews about it and went back. So what? Are we going to body shame her for that? I sure hope not.

Any time you have characters that are French, unless all those actors are truly French, accents will be an issue. For the most part, it didn't bother me. I did think that a lot of the characters said what sounded more like Jack than Jacques. Also, most times Paris was mentioned it sounded American rather than French. Again, so what?

One other plus for me is remembering scenes from Paris. I was thrilled to be able to visit there once and I love to pick out places I saw even beyond the obvious. There was also a gorgeous shot of what was supposed to be Burgundy. (I have know idea if it really was.)

For me, it has a decent story with some not so obvious developments and a decent romance.

I actually had to get an IMDB account just to review this movie, because of the rather rough reviews. Rather than recognize that this movie is just a fun, loose yourself, get comfy, laugh and feel good movie, many reviewers have chosen to pick apart things like, is an actress pregnant, is the accent right or the pronunciation of a city correct. I say, COME ON GUYS...it is a Hallmark movie! This is a great movie to enjoy when you are relaxing with your feet up and having your own glass of wine. Best part is you will smile, laugh and most likely give that familiar Awe sound at a great ending. This is just one of the many films that has Hallmark Channels enjoying viewers and ratings that rival even the major networks.

This movie is better than the average Hallmark movie for several reasons. Great on location filming in Paris helps elevate the standard above The average small town. The wine competition is fairly interesting. Not about saving a small business again. Jen Lilley is sweet without being annoying or too perky. Dan Jeanotte of the Good Witch plays her French love interest. His accent slips now and then but he is French Canadian so it isn't that far off. Hallmark has had far worse princes with fake accents. Any they look cute together with doe eyes looking lovingly at one another. Look out for Lolita Davidovich. The requisite little misunderstanding before the end isn't that far contrived as usual.

One of the better ones.