The Wrong Paris: Giddy Up For This Cute Romance

This Netflix rom-com focuses on Dawn Blanton (Miranda Cosgrove), an aspiring artist who dreams of attending art school but lacks the funds to do so. She enters a dating show to win a cash prize thinking it takes place in Paris, France only to discover it's actually Paris, Texas. There she meets bachelor Trey McAllen (Pierson Fode), who she has to pretend she's winning the heart of.

Initially worried that it would be too shallow and/or cringy, I was pleasantly surprised to experience neither of those things. The movie felt genuine, not desperately concerned with adhering to "woke" culture that I feel ruins a lot of rom-coms currently made. It was satisfyingly cheesy, fulfilling its purpose of entertaining an audience without being hard to watch. With great comedic timing and a consistent flow of events, the pace was successfully realistic from the introduction to the conclusion.

The chemistry between the leads had to have been my favorite part of the movie. It exploded off of the screen: witty, charming, and between two conveniently attractive individuals. The banter and commitment to their characters made me eager to watch the development of their relationship. I can't remember the last time a rom-com gave me the "giggling, kicking my feet" feels, but this one did, and I kept waiting to see them on screen together.

I really recommend this movie to those who miss and love early 2000's rom-coms. The premise was unique yet it stayed true to tropes of the genre. Dawn was "not like other girls", instantly garnering Trey's attention, but it wasn't overly exaggerated. They did have a meet-cute at a bar, but it didn't feel forced, instead it was playful and fun (not sure how they managed that in this modern dating climate). I also NEED mention that I loved watching a hot, caring, emotionally available man pine for the woman that he wanted, mainly because I want to experience the same thing myself.