There is a market for romantic comedies like Champagne Problems. Netflix blew the dust off the genre playbook years ago with the Glenn Powell and Zoey Deutch film Set It Up. This gave romantic comedies a resurgence on streaming. And when you think about it, the streaming giant has also given a rebirth to former teen stars like Chad Michael Murray. He has starred in a string of Netflix romantic films in recent years. These films find a niche within the streaming wave. More content is needed to keep viewers from canceling their subscriptions.
Now, with Champagne Problems, former Friday Night Lights star Minka Kelly has finally been given a vehicle that matches her talents. Yes, it is a rom-com, but it leans more toward the Hallmark style of films. However, she shows some comedic chops we didn’t know she had. She also remains incredibly charming. It helps that you pair her brand of eye candy with an adorable Frenchman. You have a film made for a specific kind of streaming fan who fits the bill.
The issue is that there is nothing new to the genre. Everything happens the way you think it will. It follows the genre playbook step by step. This includes the uptight titan of industry traveling to purchase a small, locally owned company. Before that happens, the same person falls for someone. They do not know that the person owns the business or is related to the person they’re trying to buy it from. Then we are left to wonder whether love or pragmatism will win the day.
Cue the synopsis of the movie. We meet wealthy business executive Sidney Price (Kelly), who is tasked with purchasing an esteemed Maison de Champagne in the heart of France. Sidney’s sister, Skyler (The Outpost’s Maeve Courtier-Lilley), encourages her not just to work on the trip but to immerse herself in the culture. When she arrives, a concierge, ever since Héctor Elizondo made it a thing in Pretty Woman, directs her to a bookstore. There, she can, as a joke, buy a book mocking her sister’s insistence that she enjoy a business trip.
There, she meets a dashing and unemployed Frenchman with a scruffy beard named Henri (Slow Horses’ Tom Wozniczka). He sweeps her off her feet by doing two things: listening and having an accent. They connect by talking about failed relationships, losing a parent at a young age, and their dreams. For Henri, this means abandoning the family business to open his own bookstore. They sleep together because, apparently, that is all it takes to land an angel like Ms. Kelly, giving false hope to men everywhere.
Of course, the next day, she overslept for her meeting. She rushes off, where she meets Hugo (All Quiet on the Western Front’s Thibault de Montalembert), owner of said company. She makes her pitch, only for the owner’s son to show up. Of course, that would be Henri, who is immediately irritated with Sydney. He wonders how a woman he just slept with could be a cold executive trying to buy the company his family built. From there, for some reason, all the buyers are put through a series of tests to determine who would be the best fit. Of course, we know, the real story is if Sydney and Henri are right for each other.
Champagne Problems was written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson, who cut his teeth writing the Grumpy Old Men franchise. He also directed comic book fare like the critically panned Daredevil and Ghost Rider. Here, I have a sneaking suspicion Netflix asked him to write a movie to draw in viewers. This is because it has the same name as a popular Taylor Swift song. This helps fill the AI quota for search engines. Frankly, the only reason I am mentioning it is so SEO will notice this review, being the sole reason I even mention Tay-Tay.
It is hard to complain about Johnson’s script. Why? Because it is made for a specific audience who need a movie like this around the holidays, not to make an artistic point. So let’s ignore how Sydney is apparently incompetent, not doing her homework by not knowing who the heir to the champagne empire would be. Or why any of these people would care about how to prune trees. They want to buy the company, not audition to be old-world pisadores. We also should ignore Henri, who abandoned the family legacy long ago but now suddenly doesn’t care about making a profit.
Which is why Champagne Problems is only worth watching if you are a fan of the genre. Yes, Minka Kelly is perfectly charming in the role. Finding a niche in life should be celebrated, not criticized. It is also commendable that Netflix knows its audience, giving them exactly what they want by not reinventing the wheel. I wish they didn’t take out the exact same wheel, give it a new luster and shine, and pretend it is brand new. Please, enjoy the movie, know there are better entries in the genre that most would gladly recommend and still enjoy.
Champagne Problems streams exclusively on Netflix starting November 21st!
Minka Kelly shines in Champagne Problems, a Hallmark-style film that follows the genre playbook step by step.
I am a film and television critic and a proud member of the Las Vegas Film Critic Society, Critics Choice Association, and a 🍅 Rotten Tomatoes/Tomato meter approved. However, I still put on my pants one leg at a time, and that’s when I often stumble over. When I’m not writing about movies, I patiently wait for the next Pearl Jam album and pass the time by scratching my wife’s back on Sunday afternoons while she watches endless reruns of California Dreams. I was proclaimed the smartest reviewer alive by actor Jason Isaacs, but I chose to ignore his obvious sarcasm. You can also find my work on InSession Film, Ready Steady Cut, Hidden Remote, Music City Drive-In, Nerd Alert, and Film Focus Online.
