Prime Video’s latest rom-com, Red, White & Royal Blue follows Alex, America’s first son, and Henry, the younger prince of Britain, falling in love with each other.
Story
Britain’s prince, Henry, and America’s president’s son, Alex have a long-standing feud borne out of a misunderstanding. They cause a great ruckus at Prince Philip’s wedding, causing damages to US-UK relations.
To right their wrongs, they have to do press appearances pretending to be great friends. It gives them an opportunity to reconcile and become friends. Soon, the friendship evolves into hookups, and Alex finds himself falling for Henry.
Before he can confess, however, Henry bolts and begins ghosting Alex, since he can’t embrace his homosexuality as openly as his lover while being a prince. However, he promises to be brave enough soon and embrace their relationship.
Before that happens, though, their saucy emails are leaked by Miguel Ramos, a jealous journalist who Alex once hooked up with. Alex addresses his relationship amid the controversy while Henry’s contact privileges are revoked.
Alex and Henry later meet the King who despite acknowledging their genuine love, insists that Henry chooses the traditional royal image over being openly homosexual. However, Henry chooses love and accepts his identity and relationship out in the open.
Performances
Taylor Zakhar Perez is a charming young fellow as Alex whose silly antics are properly balanced with his genuine and kind soul, as his competent hard work comes across as quite authentic.
Nicholas Galitzine brings his slick looks and flamboyant brooding as the prince, and while some moments may see him struggling to make more of the script, he’s a solid addition to the cast overall and brings a lot of talent to the table.
Uma Thurman is ridiculously charming even if she is not as ever-present in the film, and her Southern twang just steals the show every time.
Positives
The film is a rom-com that comes with the genre’s all-too-familiar beats and characteristics. Some of these offer a great sense of warmth and comfort and it’s certainly true here as well.
Having two dashing leads is certainly a bonus point for all the swooning charm that is lent to every frame they’re in. Some scenes work really well like Uma Thurman’s sex-ed talk that goes forward too quickly.
Negatives
The film drags on for far too long and the pacing is just way off the mark.
The writing seems subpar as dialogues often feel like they belong in a Hallmark movie. This also leads to actors not being able to communicate their emotions all that effectively sometimes.
Red, White & Royal Blue runs rampant with the genre clichés and though they are what contribute to the familiar warmth that romcoms bring with them, they work to the detriment of the movie when the overall work is so lousy.
The film also misses out on opportunities to make matters spicy, to add to the drama, and to elevate the source material, but it fails to do all those things.
Verdict
Red, White & Royal Blue is a sweet and heartwarming affair in spurts and installments, while the overall affair comes across as quite a lackadaisical effort from almost all ends, failing to inspire as much joy as the premise allows for.
Red, White & Royal Blue
Director: Matthew Lopez
Date Created: 2023-08-11 05:30
2.5
Also Read: Red, White & Royal Blue summary and ending explained
