Un Noël presque royal !

This is a familiar genre for Hallmark. There's a historical kingdom or castle who really does it up big for Christmas, but things are not exactly on the up-and-up. In this go around a journalist shows up trying to get an interview with a Count. Honestly, I can't even remember the name of the place, not that it's critical to the story. Brooke D'Orsay (who I'll always remember from Royal Pains) plays our journalist, who isn't entirely honest about why she's there. She's great as usual. The royals scheme too by trotting out Will Kemp, who might be the best looking groundskeeper in all the land, to play the never-been-seen Count. This movie works, but it doesn't break any new ground. The ending is rather cringy, but not a giant surprise.

This was definitely one of Hallmarks worst holiday films this festive season. I wanted to like it because royal element does ad nicely to the Christmas season, but the plot was just so ridiculous and implausible even for Hallmark standards. Also the supporting cast and the choice of supporting actors was not very natural and realistic. The fling between the leads was also rushed and lacked in chemistry.

Basically the only thing that kept that film from fully falling apart is always wonderful Will Kemp. He is always magnificent, whether he stars in big movies, expensive shows or just cheap little flicks like this one and it shows. When he is on screen he simply has that special radiance and in this one he added such a lovely comical thread to his character with lovely comedic timing. He is one of those actors that know what expression to put on in every scene even when he is not in the focus of the camera.

He and Julian Morris and Luke MacFarlane do deserve better films at Hallmark. The movie also had lovely costumes, which is not always the case at Hallmark. Would I watch it ever again, no. Would I not watch it if I knew it was this bad, no I would not. Did I fall asleep a few times watching it, yes I did.

Brooke D'Orsay has been one of my favorites for a while now. I think part of the reason was her innocent appearance and characters that fit that innocence. Well not this Charlotte.

I do not like royal stories. I also do not like stories that involve one or both characters having a lie. I can usually tolerate a lie of omission where one character doesn't own a famous identity. This story is the opposite. One character falsely owns the identity of a Count. Another character owns the identity of a respected journalist. Both chose to maintain deception. So my rating reflects that. Hopefully my observations are objective.

The acting is good. D'Orsay and Will Kemp are veterans of this type of movie. They have good chemistry. They reflect the discomfort of their lies and a growing desire to be honest. The dialogue is also good as is the rest of the script. There are some interesting and sometimes funny situations.

Once all the pieces are in place, the story is predictable. Some will say there is a twist at the end, but I saw it coming for a while.

I think many viewers who do not have my discomfort over the deception in the story will find the movie enjoyable.

6.9 stars.

A woman (D'Orsay) works for a tabloid and poses a catchy story for the editor: to find the long absent prince of a European country and make a great headline for the "TMZ" wannabe magazine. So she goes to Europe to find this prince (Kemp) whose been absent for years. Rumor has it he doesn't like to make public appearances, so people have actually forgotten what he looks like. Kemp always plays a prince of some country near England with his English accent and all. D'Orsay is the usual Hallmark version of the American woman who falls for the prince. But this time there is a twist and it is interesting, but it doesn't change the formula enough to make this an original film.

Nothing is different with this movie, it's the same blueprint and that is disappointing. We've seen one too many at this point, no really, this is the last straw. Does this mean I will cease further Hallmark viewing? No, but I am not happy that I have to sift through this drudgery still. I thought Christmas 2023 would usher in some changes, but they still insert the same stuff in too large a proportion.

Enough of the interrupted kiss, and the dead parents. I've had it with people eating pancakes and doughnuts for breakfast, cookies, cakes, and candy canes for lunch, and gingerbread, pie, ice cream, more cookies and cakes for dinner. Then there are the midnight snacks of more cookies with milk. Sometimes they have ice cream, which is always totally melted by the way. Instead of 8 glasses of water a day, it's 6 glasses of cocoa and 2 glasses of coffee. Be gone with the best friend who always assumes the lead character is "in love" with some random person of the opposite sex. You know, when the main character says something like: "Me and Bobby were riding on a bus and Bobby says..." and the best friend replies: "Oh, so you talked with a man, I bet he was cute". And the lead shrugs and acts all coy... ENOUGH! Or how about when the Mom tells the daughter, "You are my favorite daughter" and you know what the response will be: "Mom, you know I'm your only daughter". I know that's how Hallmark inserts tidbits of information so we get a better picture of who is who and what is what. And back to the food, sometimes it's pizza for dinner, always pizza, except for one meal only, the actual Christmas meal is a turkey or ham and mashed potatoes etc. And what about in the city when the romance has begun, what do the leads always eat when they get hungry on the main street? Hotdogs. Really? Nobody eats hot dogs and looks like that. In all my years working for a government agency rarely did anyone ever eat hot dogs. Only children eat hot dogs. Adults eat hamburgers, it's the way we do stuff in America. And so no wonder people die over the holidays, America is obese, heart disease is rampant. They are modeling their lives after these Hallmark characters. You know that none of these actors actually eat this stuff. I guarantee they chew it for a scene and as soon as the director says "cut" it's spit into the garbage.

I have a friend who has personally boycotted all Hallmark movies and products, because she says it's all just a Christmas scam. They are a holiday company, selling the holidays, the whole season of Christmas is a Hallmark money making machine, she says. I'm convinced she's correct.

Brooke D'Orsay (Charlotte)'s green dress at the end was gorgeous and I thought she and Will Kemp (Adam) played off of each other very well.

Adam has returned home for a short term position as gardener at the home of the Count in the fake land of Sorhagen, Nordin. There he is mistaken by the Royal gossip columnist Charlotte as the Count of Sorhagen. The Royal advisers ask Adam to play along as the real count abdicated his title six months prior...and they haven't figured out what to do yet and are worried about how it will hurt the local economy. Charlotte also lies claiming to be from a more legitimate publication instead of her gossip rag in order to secure an exclusive interview with the very reclusive count.

Will both their lies come out? And will their burgeoning feelings hold up to the truth?

I love Will Kemp and thought he was great. Both he and Brooke D'Orsay played well off of each other. My only real complaint is that there are so many real places, with real royalty...it is a shame that they are still using fake kingdoms and customs when the real ones are infinitely interesting. I liked it, but I think I would place it on a mid tier of the Hallmark Holiday films, a watch and delete.