The commercials for Joyeux Noel were pretty deceiving. They made it seem like this was a random woman wandering a Christmas market looking for love. Not once did they mention the Christmas mystery! I should have been looking forward to this one.

Lea (Jaicy Elliot) is a copy editor longing to be a reporter. When the newspaper’s lead Christmas story falls through, Lea convinces the editor to allow her to travel to France to try to find the story behind a long lost love from a local Christmas market. The editor agrees, as long as she brings ace reporter Mark (Brant Daugherty) with her.

Finally! We get a mystery movie where they actually try to solve the mystery. Granted, Lea isn’t great at sleuthing in the beginning but Mark shows her the ropes and they start investigating. And, sure, it’s not some deep dark unsolvable thing. It’s a bit of a fluff piece about past romance but there is a valid and sweet ending to their story. I actually found myself enjoying the movie more than I expected. (I even loved the running joke of tourists always bumping into locals.)

Rating: A different kind of French twist