How others will see it. Impromptu is a period comedy with a notable cast playing famous historical personalities. It's strictly in English, the story moves rapidly, and there's enough outrageous behavior and other dramatics to interest those who expect such things from a comedy.
On the other hand, men are likely to be annoyed by the movie because of its exaggerated characters and events. This is epitomized by a scene in which a drunken man who normally avoids George decides instead to ride a horse into her bedroom.
Women may choose to identify with George, who lives the life they can only dream of. George has it all: fame and income from a self-made career as a risque writer, two adorable pre-teenage children, she can dress as she chooses, and gets to say No again and again to a smitten man (Corraface) whom she nonetheless keeps at arms length. If nothing else, he provides her with more material for her books.
How I felt about it. Although mostly a comedy, Impromptu is also a romance. Supposedly, George loves Chopin for his magnificent piano playing. However, since Chopin is played by Grant, the Cutest Man in Europe, one has to wonder whether she would feel the same about him if he looked like Emma Thompson's hunting-obsessed husband (Anton Rodgers).
This is the kind of movie where children play in the woods all day without getting their beautiful clothes dirty. Where Bernadette Peters can change from George's friend and Liszt's combative lover to George's rival for Chopin. Does she only want the latter because George does? Or because the director though that the romantic complication would improve the comedy?
In either event, it doesn't make sense. Peters has a famous composer already, is married to a third party, and has two infant children. Her chances are poor with Chopin, whom is likely to report her actions to Liszt, his best friend (in this movie, at least.)
And the characters are exaggerated. Chopin is as timid as a mouse. Thompson is completely guileless. Corraface's one-note obsession with George leads to two different duel scenes. The hunter husband is too stupid even for inbred aristocracy.
Is it charming or amusing when logs explode in the fire, apparently injuring the hands of the hosts (and hands alone) although the chairs are seated away from the fire? The word that comes to mind instead is unnecessary.