Romantic comedy fans got an early Christmas gift right before the holidays last year with the arrival of Anyone But You, an almost too-good-to-be-true reimagining of Much Ado About Nothing starring Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell. It wasn’t just that Sweeney and Powell created the kind of chemistry that put them in the ranks of famous pairings like Hanks/Ryan, Hepburn/Tracy, and Lemmon/Matthau. There was an undeniable energy to Will Gluck’s film that saw audiences do something they don’t often do for this type of fluff entertainment…come back to the theater multiple times. While we wait for the inevitable reteaming of Sweeney and Powell, expect a conveyor belt of similar rom-com shenanigans to begin rolling out to capitalize quickly on that success.

While French Girl was in the can long before Anyone But You premiered its first trailer, it’s hard not to see its arrival so soon after as a bit of good news/bad news for viewers. The good news is that if you are looking for a pleasant way to spend ninety minutes steeped in cozy familiarity, the film released by Paramount will likely leave you saying, “C’est bon!”. The bad news is that for all its strained effort to make us forget, its star Zach Braff (Wish I Was Here) is totally miscast, leading to a breakdown of sorts between what our head tells us should be happening and what our heart believes is best.

Gordon Kinski (Braff) is a hopelessly romantic Brooklynite and middle-school teacher whose carefully planned proposal is thrown for a loop when his girlfriend, Sophie (Evelyne Brochu), receives an irresistible job offer in Quebec from her ex Ruby (Vanessa Hudgens, tick, tick… BOOM!), a renowned celebrity chef, whose intentions aren’t evident at first. Undeterred and encouraged by his rakish father (William Fichtner, The Lone Ranger), Gordon begins a quest to Quebec to win over Sophie’s discerning, French-speaking family.

While Ruby puts Sophie through the wringer, Gordon must contend with her father, who would prefer his daughter to return home and convince the rest of the clan that true love knows no borders. The stage is soon set for a series of comedic misadventures, highlighting the lengths one will go to for love, with Gordon taking a backseat to the more dominating Ruby’s not-so-covert advances on Sophie. When Ruby brings her reality show to Sophie’s family farm and becomes a heroine in the eyes of the relatives, will that leave Gordon with enough to offer Sophie to convince her to stay with him?

Directed by James A. Woods and Nicolas Wright, who also penned this engaging tale, French Girl captures the essence of love’s unpredictability and offers a culturally rich, humorous exploration of familial bonds and the possibility of personal growth outside of a relationship. Distinguishing itself within the expected genre beats through its clever writing, picturesque Québecois settings, and authentic depiction of cross-social nuances, the film easily navigates the fine line between cliché and novelty, offering a fresh perspective on the classic theme of love conquering all obstacles.

While Braff brings a certain depth to Gordon, his commendable performance can’t quite explain the feeling that he’s mismatched in the role and its intended youthfulness. The character seems like it should be played by someone at least a decade younger, especially when he’s cast against Brochu and Hudgens, both of whom shine in their roles.  Braff draws on some of the same charming traits that made the hapless protagonists in Meet the Parents, Son-in-Law, and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? so endearing, yet those actors left indelible impressions on their films, and you could easily see Braff being swapped out for a younger model.

Despite feeling like a gussied-up Hallmark film, Woods and Wright’s foray from acting into writing and directing in French Girl demonstrates a worthy understanding of the rom-com blueprint forged in stone over time. In drawing parallels with Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? French Girl similarly tackles themes of acceptance and prejudice from a lighter angle. Both films address the complexities of introducing a partner from a different cultural background to one’s family, but French Girl does so with a contemporary twist, focusing on the funny elements of cultural integration rather than the drama of societal taboos. Woods and Wright infuse this distinct voice into their narrative, and they make a significant step forward in their careers in the process, winding up with a film that is also technically proficient and polished.

A breezy, enjoyable addition to the romantic comedy genre, it may not reinvent the wheel, but it isn’t sidelined by a flat either. Who can say if the intention was to embody the timeless appeal of bridging cultural divides, but it’s one of the most substantial successes the film enjoys. I wish that Braff had been traded in for another actor who could have sold me more on the ‘romantic’ part of romantic comedy, though. If he had, French Girl could have raised the bar much higher and kept it from coasting below the radar where most eager viewers could find it.