Champagne Problems is one of Netflix’s Hallmark-style holiday romances, but with its stellar cast, a hilarious script, and some actually sexy moments between the lead actors, it’s an even better version of what Hallmark’s offering this Christmas. Minka Kelly and Tom Wozniczka co-star as two strangers falling in love in France, and while their chemistry is pretty great, there’s much more than just romance on offer in this cleverly-titled new release.
The Gist: Minka Kelly stars as Sydney Price, an executive whose company is interested in acquiring a small vineyard in Champagne, France called Château Cassell. Sydney’s goal is to buy the vineyard and save it from bankruptcy (although her corporate overlords have other, more greedy plans for it that she won’t find out about till later), and she’s sent to Paris for a meeting with the owner, Hugo Cassell (Thibault de Montalembert).
On her only free night in Paris, Sydney meanders through the city, having made a pinky promise to her sister Skyler (Maeve Courtier-Lilley) that she would actually enjoy her trip and not think about work the whole time. That fateful pinky promise leads her to a bookstore where she meets a handsome stranger named Henri (Tom Wozniczka) who offers to show her around the city. After a magical night together – a night where they do not talk about work or why Sydney is visiting France, because that was part of her promise – Sydney races off to her meeting with Hugo, and learns that she’s one of four people bidding for his vineyard. There’s Roberto (Sean Amsing), the hard-partying son of a billionaire, for whom owning a champagne vineyard just seems fun, Otto (Flula Borg), a dour German entrepreneur, and Brigitte, the all-business killjoy whose company has long had ties with Château Cassell.
Also at the meeting? Henri! The two never discussed their lines of work during their night together, so they’re both shocked to see each other there. It turns out Hugo is Henri’s father, and he’s selling the business because Henri has no interest in taking it over. (Instead, Henri wishes to run a bookstore that’s also a wine bar.)
Hugo goes full Willy Wonka by telling Sydney, Roberto, Otto and Brigitte that they’ll be spending the weekend at the château so he can get to know them and determine which of them deserves to be the next owner. Over the course of the weekend, Sydney and Henri grow closer. In fact, all four of the would-be owners develop a kinship (Otto enjoys regaling the group with tales of his bleak German childhood, while Roberto is never short of stories about how rich and fun he is) and the chemistry of the ensemble is a hilarious delight to behold.
Of course, a misunderstanding about Syd’s intentions and her company’s greed cause Henri to push her away, but eventually these two incredibly hot people find their way back to each other.
What Movies Will It Remind You Of? Early on when Sydney and Henri are sharing their magical, European night together, there are flickers of Before Sunrise, but the movie also has the wanderlusty, comforting elements of Hallmark’s Passport To Love movies, like Savoring Paris.
Performance Worth Watching: The first half hour of Champagne Problems sets up the film as a solid, sexy romance, but once Flula Borg and Sean Amsing enter the chat, it becomes a full-on goofy comedy. The two actors liven up the entire movie with their unexpected and hilarious performances, I could watch a whole movie of just this duo.
Memorable Dialogue: “Sometimes you can live a whole life in just one day. I had a great life today,” Henri tells Sydney after spending their first night wandering Paris together. (While the movie is chock-full of funny one-liners, there are also many tender moments like this that make the heart flutter, perfectly capturing that intense new crush feeling.)
A Holiday Tradition: When the group discusses how they traditionally celebrate Christmas, Otto describes his holiday tradition, telling them, “We covered ourselves in ashes, crouching in the shadows, eating marzipan and knackwurst while hiding from Krampus.”
Does The Title Make Any Sense? A sucker for puns and wordplay, I was more than delighted to learn that the movie about a wine executive who falls in love at a French vineyard is called Champagne Problems. It’s too perfect.
Our Take: Champagne Problems is essentially a story about two people who have grown up a little lonely and are searching for someone to take care of them. A prominent theme throughout the movie is about maternal loss – both Sydney and Henri lost their mothers at young ages and bond over that fact, which helps ground their relationship in something real, something more than just sharing a drunken evening under the Eiffel Tower. And yet, for as deep a bond as Sydney and Henri forge on their first night together, the movie stays light throughout because everyone in the film is warm and kind and quirky in their own way. (Again, Otto and Roberto do a lot of the comedic heavy lifting, but there are excellent performances throughout the film.)
And it’s not just the relationship between Henri and Syd that you’ll grow invested in, as the whole group gels as an ensemble; contrary to what you might expect, the weekend together brings everyone closer rather than pitting them as enemies. The boozy happy ending is exactly what I hoped would happen, as it finds a way to keep everyone in the cast in each other’s lives as a community of lovable people brought together by their love of bubbles.
Our Call: STREAM IT! Like champagne itself, the film adds some fizzy fun to the holiday season.
Photos: Everett Collection, Photo Illustration: Dillen Phelps
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! (At least, that’s what Andy Williams promised.) The holidays are a time to celebrate with family, friends, food, and, let’s not forget, fun things to watch. Whether you’re huddled up with the whole family in your living room or cozying up under the covers with your tablet, let Decider be your guide to all things festive this holiday season.
Liz Kocan is a pop culture writer living in Massachusetts. Her biggest claim to fame is the time she won on the game show Chain Reaction.
