A Royal Christmas Holiday

From the same people who made A Royal Christmas On Ice comes a new story with the same Prince? I'm not sure if this is supposed to be a sequel to the other one or what but it's got John Stoddard as Prince Jonathan (formerly Prince John in ARCOI) and William Baldwin (I guess not a sequel as in the first he was Daryl and in this he's Jarrod) and another lackluster script.

A lot of cringe moments, second hand embarrassment, which is a shame because like so many it had potential.

Like why make the same actor once again a prince with the same name? It's just confusing if you've seen both. Was this supposed to be a reboot with some changes?

Anyway, JS and WB do passable jobs with the script given. But too much cringe over all to recommend.

I can't say I understand the folks (apologies) that saw chemistry between these two. They both felt flat in this highly predictable show. It felt like they were both reciting their lines, and neither is more than above-average in looks. Often, in these films, supporting actors rescue an otherwise tepid show, but, alas, such is not the case here.

Well into the story I still couldn't decide, from the narrative, if she was leading him along in order to get a killer interview. But the biggest mystery was why his shields weren't up in this situation. As a royal prince he must have developed a bit of a hard shell, and he appears to be a naive 30-yr old here.

No chemistry. No tension. Blah.

7.5 stars.

A woman wants to be a news anchor so badly she will do just about anything. That's not the first impression, but as we get to know her and we hear some tidbits about her from parents and friends, we come to understand she is a real go-getter. Her agenda is to succeed and do it like a bull in a china shop, if that's what it takes. On the other hand, she appears to be a laid back reporter who simply wants a story and is misreading the intentions of a prince. Enter the prince. He is visiting the USA to do a ribbon cutting for military veterans, and he's quite the dashing sort. It's love at first sight for the royal playboy. He is completely entranced by this reporter, and it shows. Their two opposing agendas are that he wants to pursue her immediately, to the utmost, because he feels she is so much more wonderful a woman than any he's ever encountered. But, she seems to want to capture the story above all else, although she has some hint of attraction for him at times. This film has some contradictions and irrationalities between the characters and how they interact vs how they feel toward each other. His rendition of a prince with his heart on his sleeve, is very well done, but her character is divided. She exudes a sweet and kind exterior with only a wisp of assertiveness, and her attraction for him is inconsistent. It only serves to confuse the audience. A reviewer or two mentioned there is no chemistry, but there is. The only reason it seems lacking is due to bad writing, not bad acting.

Fred Olen Ray, who knows a successful Christmas formula and sticks with it, wrote and produced his best, of the ones I've seen. With low budget movies, the casting, setting and writing are especially important, and the two leads (who also worked together in 2022 for "Prince and Pauper Christmas") have wonderful chemistry. It was nice to see my hometown East Aurora on display again, and it was a treat to see Dennis DiPaolo play the role of the server Dennis in his family's own restaurant in Buffalo, but at about the halfway mark, I forgot about the local aspects of the movie and began to root for the two leads to fall in love (which was virtually assured), and it was the way in which the relationship developed that made it so easy to watch without taking a break. I also noticed that Don The Shopkeeper (filmed at Vidler's 5 & 10 in East Aurora) has been in previous Ray movies. I hope that the movie company decides to come back to East Aurora for another movie - Christmas or any time. A very pleasant movie to watch and I hope its short run on the Great American Family network continues on a more accessible platform, such as Netflix or Amazon Prime.

Overall I love the feel-good story so I give it 10 for that as I'd watch it again. However the cultural issues are slightly annoying. Firstly, as someone who is of mixed heritage, whilst I love that there's a Latino flavour to this movie, this is an English-speaking movie so should be English subtitles on the Spanish dialogue, otherwise it just isn't inclusive and is therefore inverted racism. Furthermore subtitles help people trying to learn additional languages and cultures. Secondly, Americans doing royal movies is always unrealistic - eg no bodyguards and they'd never have big passionate in public, especially so early in an unannounced relationship. I see from a YouTube interview that Jonathan Stoddard feels he's been respectful to British royalty by not making his character an idiot, but American-made Royal movies are something I generally avoid because they a such an unrealistic representation of monarchy and cause arrogance in Americans thinking they know it all and can voice an opinion, as seen when Princess Kate took an unexpected break from duties before announcing her cancer. On the upside, seeing the Prince enjoy the everyday things, interacting with the public and supporting them through tragedies, is very much like the British monarchy - these sad scenes are what make this Royal Movie better than the usual fare.