Valzer di Natale a Parigi

8.7 stars.

There are few Hallmark movies that receive as venerable a description as "par excellence", but I've saved it for 'Paris Christmas Waltz'. This story towers above the majority, just as the Eiffel looms atop the Parisian cityscape.

Emma is a mere accountant hoping for an adventure. Her impossible dream is to one day dance like a professional, but she knows this is an illusion. She is a simple woman with an unattainable ambition; more a hope than a goal. She meets Leo on an icy Manhattan street, and they share a special moment.

Leo is a Broadway dancer who needs a dance partner for an upcoming Pro-Am competition. Can this charming amateur named Emma, a simple accountant by day, aspiring dancer by night, possibly fill those shoes?

What I love about 'Paris Christmas Waltz' is the tactile involvement we share with Jen Lilley and Matthew Morrison as they partake in a subtly seductive odyssey. This journey sweeps us through the landscape of competitive dance in Paris...full of excitement, adventure, anxiety, and fulfillment. This film is successful in transporting us into a magical place, surrounded by visions of bells, and ribbons, accompanied by grace and beauty, threatened by superiority, encumbered by inadequacy. We are engulfed in the ambience of this other world of dance. This is no ordinary Hallmark production, and I'm staggered at how notably 'Paris Christmas Waltz' transcends the watermark.

Lilley's emotional presentation far exceeds anything I've ever seen from her, and I attribute it to Morrison's ability to invoke a marked enthusiasm. World class!

Love me some dancing shows like SYTYCD which Morrison was a judge plus the Paris and the Eiffel Tower dancing scenes were so fun to watch. Storyline was a little weak, but hey, dancing and Paris, what can go wrong? One thing that annoyed me was the final dance at the big competition was sung to "O Night Divine" and GAC chose to have the singer sing, "oh night, when he was born." Really?? I even went back and listened again, and I think they actually didn't sing the song as it was written "...when Christ was born." So strange. Why? Would Jesus' name really offend GAC viewers? It's a classic, beautiful song that is about Christ's birth! Anyway, aside from that, I enjoyed the movie.

Matthew Morrison has a long history on the stage in musicals, and it shows here, particularly in his "Singin' in the Snow" number. He really does a nice job of both dancing and singing. So does Jen Lilley, but she's on a bit of a lower level than Matthew.

Interestingly, Morrison is often asked if he's John Wayne's grandson. He's not, but the question doesn't disturb him. LOL

The movie has the normal number of Hallmark romance ups and downs between the couple, who both start out dedicated to "just be friends". Cracks start to appear in the promise early on, but they're forestalled, of course, by the previous girlfriend/dancing partner.

Overall, this is an enjoyable and quite different Hallmark Christmas romance, and one we're very likely to watch again.

I liked a Paris Christmas Waltz. I'm not usually a fan of the dancing or singing movies but this one I liked. It was nice to see Matthew Morrison play a part that didn't involve Royalty or an accent. I love Jen Lilly. These 2 were perfectly paired in this movie. I didn't think there was a lot of chemistry between them but I loved watching them dance. They filmed this movie in Paris and in Romania (I think). The Paris scenes were beautiful. They way the danced in front of the Eiffel Tower was beautiful. GAC did good with this movie. It was fun, playful, and a beautiful location. There wasn't a "dramatic" misunderstanding. Watch it for the fun dancing.

Last year was a mess for Christmas movies. What with GAC raiding the Hallmark cupboard in 2022, everyone was down last year. This year it's finally settling down and GAC and Hallmark are both doing some decent work this season's Christmas rom coms.

That's what this is, a Christmas Rom Com. It isn't meant to be an academy award winning film. These never are. Hallmark or GAC doesn't produce these films. Look at the names of the production companies, the names of the screen writers, the names of the casting directors, the names of the producers and executive producers. They are interchangeable. They all do movies for both. Does anyone really think the production staff gives these movies the same amount of time that goes into a feature film or a TV movie? Of course not. Each production company is doing maybe 10 of these each year.

One viewer's trash is another viewer's treasure. I love Jen Lilly. I though she was good in this movie. She dances extremely well. She sings well. It's somewhat of a musical but not really. Matthew Morrison is good in his role. Yes, both are not song and dance actors but the dances are extremely well done. Especially more so considering the time restraints they had in doing the movies. Yes Jen Lilly whines. All the female leads do a bit of that in these movies when they don't think the romance is going to work out. Or they get angry and stomp off. Again, it's a formulaic rom com. Two thirds through the movie is when every one of these movies has the romance fall apart.

SO give them all a break, it's a feel good Christmas movie.