Netflix's "Champagne Problems" takes every cliche from its familiar mix of Christmas and rom-com genres and somehow turns them into critical parts of its whole appeal. I can't champion its direction or especially its script, both by Hollywood veteran Mark Steven Johnson, but the idea of spending time in France, surrounded by the bubbles of sparkling wine and the glistening lights of holidays, with a group of misfit friends, had my body surrender to the film's irresistible charm.
Minka Kelly stars as Sydney, a businesswoman employed by The Roth Group, or TRG, a firm that she sees as helping small businesses but others see as acquiring them and selling them piece by piece. She gives a spirited pitch on pursuing the purchase of the Chateau Cassel vineyard company and her boss (Mitchell Mullen) decides to fly her to Paris to pitch it directly to the owner Hugo (Thibault de Montalembert).
After a brief bit of encouragement by her younger sister, Sydney spends her first night, not preparing for the meeting but instead out exploring the city. Inside a little bookstore recommended by the hotel's concierge (Thierry René), a case of mistaken identity has Henri, a regular guest, showing her around like he's a store employee. After he tells her he's just another customer and some mild flirting, he asks to show her Paris, things only the locals know. And because this is a romantic comedy, she of course says yes.
He's played by Tom Wozniczka, and the two certainly have chemistry. His dialogue switches between French and English often, not only sometimes in the same scene but also the same sentence, but there's a believable anxiousness as he stumbles over both languages as she looks on with a lover's glaze.
He spends the night in her hotel room, like only the lucky experience, but- oh no, it's past ten AM, she's late for her big meeting. She hustles her way to the winery where she meets Hugo. Hugo's company is millions of dollars in debt, and has fancied several potential buyers to compete with one another; there's the flamboyant gay son of a billionaire Roberto (Sean Amsing), the stoic and socially awkward German Otto (Flula Borg) and the stony woman of business Brigitte (Astrid Whettnall), who's known Hugo for decades. The group is made up entirely of cliches, but these actors are professionals and handle the well-worn material with honest charisma.
The meeting is well underway but then the door swings open and in walks Henri, and it's at this moment that the characters all learn something we the audience could have guessed simply by reading the title: Henri is Hugo's son. Scandalous.
Hugo decides to suspend the sale until Monday, asking that this motley assortment of stereotypes join him at this residence for the weekend. He says this is to get a better idea of which seller to sell to, but my romance-radar suspects he is hoping for Sydney and Henri to fall madly in love like they do in the movies.
Look, "Champagne Romance" is not very original, having all the obligatory scenes one expects from these sorts of ingredients, like when our heroine successfully suggests to Hugo the exact car part that'll make his lemon of a vehicle run again, or how Sydney is able to find Henri's childhood book he hid somewhere in the estate decades ago. It's all so routine, but there's an undeniable warmth on display, from the locations like the fields of snow-covered grapes, down to the fabric everyone is draped in. This is a cozy little time-waster that is about as good as they come when the filmmakers settle on sensual whimsy.
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