Paris, Wine & Romance

The little things matter. Pinot Noir the "r" is silent. (Its a french and Oregonian movie ...please!!) And Wilamette is Will-AM-ette. Wow. Should have caught these to be accurate. Beautiful film otherwise.

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.

I enjoyed this movie. I liked the Paris scenes and also the unique story line around a wine competition. I didn't pick up on the mis-pronunciations since I don't know the correct pronunciation of Willamette to begin with. But, I do believe Hallmark should definitely have been aware of it and made sure the actors pronounced things correctly. As far as the supposed "bump," I wasn't aware of it until reading reviews. I noticed a woman whose body looked realistic and wasn't in too tight or too short of clothing. I could relate to her. Stop expecting women to have tiny waists and flat stomachs! I appreciated her being an independent, strong woman who didn't change her life for a man. The ending was a big leap of faith for him and I struggled with that the most. Overall, though, I enjoyed this movie on a relaxing evening with my glass of wine.

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 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.