Paris! Christmas! Waltz!

I spent one week in Paris when I was 20. I went to the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower and Versailles and the Opera House and Montmartre and the Moulin Rouge, and had absolutely the best, most incredible time. I've never been back, but that's the thing about Paris: it remains. So I'm a sucker for all things Parisian. You know what else I love? Dancing. Sometimes, a dramatic emotional climax can only be expressed through a high-pressure dance routine. And Christmas...look, you know I love Christmas. So if there was ever an SEO-driven movie title designed to target me specifically, it's A Paris Christmas Waltz.

Emma (Jen Lilley) is an NYC accountant who is inspired to start ballroom dancing after she sees a performance by professional dancer Leo (Matthew Morrison). One year later, Leo is looking for a new partner for an upcoming pro/am competition. He and Emma meet at a bar where her friend tricks her into trying out via tango. Their chemistry is obvious. Leo brings Emma to Paris, where she's immediately having the best, most incredible time dancing in gorgeous ballet studios and eating tiny, actress-sized nibbles of delicious French food. She's already 75% in love with Leo, but he doesn't date his dance partners, even though he can feel the attraction too. Leo has a conniving ex (Jade Ewen) who almost screws things up between them. In the end, they resolve nothing and make no decisions about their future, but they dance and kiss by the Eiffel Tower, so that's alright.

So, first things first: this is a Jesus movie. It's produced by Great American Family, which specializes in content that "celebrate(s) faith, family, and country." I didn't know that when I started, but my ears definitely perked up when each of the characters made oblique references to relying on their faith or putting their trust in God. I don't think any of other movies I've watched this year even mentioned God, which is...interesting. For me, Christmas is mostly a secular holiday, and I hardly think about the religious aspect. It's not something I particularly want in my Christmas movies, but in this case, the religious elements were completely outweighed by the Paris/Christmas/Waltz of it all. And I'll hand it to the costumer: they put together a number of gorgeous ballroom dancing outfits that showed no skin between collarbone and ankle.

Given the Jesusness, I didn't expect a lot in the chemistry department. I didn't count on the pure power of Jen Lilley's starry-eyed stare, which she employs with great effect. Matthew Morrison seems a little blinded by it. Dancing gives them plenty of opportunity to touch, and their forced dates in the world's most romantic city are swoony by default. But I'm sorry to report that the kissing in this movie is bad. Not, like, insufficient bad. There's a couple of passionate moments that work perfectly in, for example, Meet Me Next Christmas. It's unsexy bad. Like, their mouths are in the wrong configuration somehow? It's like their jaws are locked together? I didn't like it at all.

I don't feel like I've done justice to the weirdness of this movie. You should totally watch this with your grandma because there's just so much to talk about. Like, the bar where they dance for the first time is a ballroom dancing bar, and there's a big jug of eggnog just sitting on the counter with a spout, like it's water. Because you know what you want after some sweaty dancing? Some nice room-temp eggnog! In fact, watching this movie is a great time to fantasy plan a trip to Paris with your grandma, like that time Rory and Emily went to Europe on Gilmore Girls. Where would you go first? Let me know!