Director: Mark Steven Johnson
Starring: Minka Kelly, Tom Wozniczka
Running Time: 99 minutes
Synopsis: In New York, Sydney Price (Minka Kelly) works for an acquisitions conglomerate specializing in buying distressed companies. She is assigned to close the deal on Chateau Cassell, a French legacy champagne manufacturer deep in debt. Sydney travels to Paris to make her pitch, and learns she is in competition with other bidders. During a night out in Paris she meets the handsome Henri (Tom Wozniczka) at a bookstore, and they spend a romantic night together. The next day Sydney is shocked to learn Henri is the son of Cassell owner Hugo (Thibault de Montalembert).
What Works Well: Minka Kelly is adequate in the central role, without ever escaping working-girl-seeks-adventure rom-com trappings. The Parisian and French countryside scenery is crisp, beautiful, and scrubbed clean, and undeniably touristy. The French dialogue is allowed to flow freely as necessary, and a few moments of humour extract some mild laughs.
What Does Not Work As Well: The thin premise and underpowered cast result in slow pacing and an abundance of filler scenes. Meanwhile, the stereotypes are layered in thick globs, most notably the tiresome stock characters representing Sydney's rivals: the fun-loving gay Spaniard, the stiff and humourless German, and the condescending Frenchwoman. The daddy issues between patriarch Hugo and his son Henri (who does not want to take over the family business) are of the eye-rolling predictable variety, and both lovers are saddled with missing parent syndrome. Is it even necessary to say that the ending is a foregone conclusion?
Key Quote:
Henri: Do you think I'm flirting with you?
Sydney: Aren't you?
Henri: Si, absolument.
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