Stream It Or Skip It: ‘A Paris Christmas Waltz’ on Great American Family, a Fluffy Snowflake of a Charming Rom-Com

HOT TAKE, COMIN’ THRU: I think Great American Family spent all its holiday-movie money on A Paris Christmas Waltz, since the other stuff I’ve seen from the network looks like it was purchased at Dollar Tree on Dec. 26. GAF notably poached the budding Christmas Waltz franchise (if you can call two movies (so far) a franchise) from Hallmark, luring writer/director Michael Damian away to helm the sequel to his hit 2020 effort The Christmas Waltz – and film in Actual Paris (as well as, cough, Bucharest). Well, it’s kinda-sorta a sequel, more in name than anything else, since it tells a totally different story about waltzing during yuletide season, and it features none of the original cast members. So out are Lacey Chabert and Will Kent, and in is Jen Lilley, notable for her Christmas-TV-movie pedigree (Mingle All the Way, Royally Wrapped for Christmas) and a lengthy run on Days of Our Lives, who here 1-2-3, 1-2-3s with Glee alum Matthew Morrison. Will they dance into our hearts, or just step on our feet?

A PARIS CHRISTMAS WALTZ: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Emma (Lilley) is enraptured. Italics totally necessary. She’s watching Leo Monroe (Morrison) dance a Christmas dance on stage and when he’s done the audience spontaneously erupts into ovation. Her smile stretches from here to alllllllll the way over there. Cut to ONE YEAR LATER, and it’s Christmastime again in New York City. Here Emma is established as an overworked accountant, single of course, and also inspired by Leo’s performance to join a school of dance. Her bestie Cece (Stephanie Siadatan) does what besties in rom-coms always always always always (always!) do, and urges her to start dating again. But there’s so much accounting to do, with the columns and the numbers and the debits and the credits – so much, her plan for the holiday is to stay in and work. BUT. Fate intervenes, as it always does. She’s walking down the sidewalk and a handsome gent stops her from galoshing right through a slush puddle, and then they help each other cross a very icy street. Is this cute? No. It’s C U T E. All caps and spaces between each letter totally necessary.

Now of course they go their separate ways, but Fate ain’t done yet. Before we get to the second meet-cute, we have to get into Leo’s sitch, which finds him seeking out a dance partner for a pro-am competition in Paris, at the behest of his beloved instructor Henry (Paul Freeman), who’s ailing. And whaddayaknow, at a dance school mixer, Emma reacquaints with Leo after she knocks over a tower of coffee cups. He’s informally auditioning partners, and Cece shoves Emma into contention. They hit the floor for a cha-cha, and it’s real good – sizzle sizzle hubba hubba, and she walks away all tingly. All of Leo’s other potentials? Too stiff or formal or technical. But Emma? She’s got what you call unmeasurables. Zazz. Zhoozh. Probably something to do with pheromones. And that’s it. She’s in. She’s going to the City of Lights for the first time. Coincidentally, she has all the time in the world to follow this silly dance dream, because she didn’t lose her job, but she gave it up so another coworker wouldn’t get laid off. This woman. She’s sweeter than a dozen batches of Granny’s snickerdoodles. 

They get to Paris and head to rehearsal and even though she’s the “am” in this pro-am endeavor, she’s pretty good. But they’re not quite there yet. Henry senses some hesitation, and tells them, “Inhibitions do you no favors in dance” OR IN BED, am I right rimshot? But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, because dancing isn’t a euphemism for gettin’ it on quite yet, although there’s the bit where Leo and Emma’s faces get real real close and she excuses herself for some water because she’s THIRSTY. Henry’s next instruction has nothing to do with stepping here or tightening that twirl there – rather, he suggests they get to know each other and find the spark that’ll ignite the flame so they’ll sex the living crap ou- er, I mean, dance with the palpable passion of two horny lovebirds who’ve yet to consummate their mutual lusty attraction. You gonna question the sick old man? Nope! 

So Leo becomes Emma’s guide to all the romantic Christmas snowcovered gorgeousness in Paris, and nothing will stop their ascent to dancing glory and/or the heights of love, not even Leo’s STRICT POLICY about not dating his dance partners, or his catty ex Giselle (Jade Ewen), who’s competing against them and employing a little psychological warfare, proof that she’s not above violating international rules of engagement. And so we build toward the first round of the competition. Will Emma and Leo qualify for the final? Probably not. I bet they’ll lose and get kicked out of Paris for sucking at dancing, and just fly home and go their separate ways and spend Christmas alone, washing down stale Cheetos with Electric Melon Mad Dog 20/20. That’s how these movies always go.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Hallmark cranked out a Paris-set rom-com last year called Joyeux Noel.

Performance Worth Watching: Let’s be real: These characters are thin – but crispy, and go nicely with a light whipped cheese, because if you spread anything more dense on them, they’ll snap and crumble to bits that leave a rather untoward mess on your charcuterie tray. Where was I? Right. Lilley and Morrison are TOTES ADORBS together, and they kindle some lightly appealing chemistry – and Lilley’s especially smiley and glowing, so smiley and glowing you might mistake her for an effervescent Christmas bauble that would look lovely on your fireplace mantel. 

Memorable Dialogue: Emma delivers the most egregiously GAF line from an otherwise perfectly secular movie: “Sometimes God’s plan for us is just different than what we expect.”

Sex and Skin: None. Sex is heretical and privy to divine punishment in the GAFHCU (Great American Family Holiday Cinematic Universe).

Our Take: Would it be too mean of me to point out that Emma and Leo dance to “O Holy Night,” which is in 4/4 time? Or that one of the other couples dances to “Carol of the Bells,” which is also not a waltz? But hey, those songs don’t lack drama, and A Paris Christmas Waltz needed a bit of that down the stretch, so perhaps we should forgive the movie for its truth-in-advertising lapses and blatant lack of musical literacy. 

Otherwise, APCW (pronounced “app-cue”) is perfectly enjoyable flimsy escapist entertainment making a formulaic, lightfooted march to a happy ending. In Lilley and Morrison, it has two likable leads developing some B-plus chemistry and cultivating a little more emotional maturity than you might normally see in made-for-TV rom-com characters. Not that there’s much to these people’s inner lives and selves, but they show enough heart and pluck to make us root for their happiness – and they look positively lovely in the foreground of postcard shots of Paris, which glows with the warming glow of glowing Christmas magical glow. Translation: The general aesthetic of the film is Eiffel Tower Snow Globe. 

Which is to say, the movie lacks the cheap-’n’-phony look of so many other holiday-themed movies, which too often film in improperly temperate California locales with unconvincing foamy fake snow. It’s nice to see a GAF movie put a little effort into the production and actually shoot on location with a passable script and talented actors, and if that sounds like a backhanded compliment, well, that’s intentional. But this one is a cut above the rest, a worthwhile charmer that doesn’t try to pass stale store-bought cookies as gourmet dessert. 

Our Call: A Paris Christmas Waltz is a sweet comfort-food confectionary that should please fans of fluffy Xmas rom-coms. STREAM IT. 

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.