Red, White & Royal Blue

This movie was a HUGE shock to me, it was so very beautiful and it made me cry!! I was not expecting much, as I'm an older lady who does not often watch 'young people's' movies because I invariably find them uninteresting (to me). But this film is SO well done and has such a lovely and relevant story, that I was hooked from the very start!! The 2 lead actors are amazing in their roles, both very believable. The production values are first class, and the story highlights SUCH an important issue in our world today - that of TOLERANCE & ACCEPTANCE of others. We are each a UNIQUE creation, and consensual adult love in all its forms should be celebrated. There is so much hatred, bigotry and suffering in the world today, we need more films that bring us together, like this one. Congratulations and Thanks to all involved in its creation!!

I was saddened to see the mixed/leaning-bad reviews for this. I'm a huge fan of the book and I wanted the movie to do well. So imagine my gratification when I finished it just now and it was an absolute delight. It made me so happy, even as the the movie wasn't without the same moments of heartache from the novel. I came in expecting "discount Hallmark" (something I saw mentioned a few times in this morning's news publications).

All I can say is the reviewers must not have read the source material, because it was largely faithful to it (soz, June). Sure, some things I could have done without (i.e., the villain of the piece), and there were some truly cheesy moments and some convenient happenstances plot-wise, but they just made me laugh without robbing the movie of its loveliness.

Please don't let the reviews scare you away.

Cramming the content of a novel into a two-hour movie means you're going to see characters eliminated and scenes combined, that's just a given. To say "the book was better" is a well-worn cliche, so I won't use it here, but having read the book first, I was saddled with expectations that were never met.

For a light, two-hour "Hallmark movie the week" style flick? Red, White & Royal Blue was fine. But the cost was having to eliminate most of the emotion, peril and building up to the big scenes that the book had. The pacing felt rushed, and it seemed like the director was trying to get to from one big moment from the book to the next, as quickly as possible before they ran out of time.

Casting-wise, the actors all pretty much looked exactly like how they were meticulously described in the book-with one glaring exception. In the book, Alex was much younger. Closer to 21. He was also noticeably shorter than Henry too, at around 5' 7" or 5' 8" (which is why his "He doesn't look 6' 2"!" line in the film seems to come out of nowhere). Nicholas Galitzine was a decade to old and far too tall for the part. Instead of seeing a young college student fall for a tall, handsome prince? We spent two hours watching two grown Abercrombie & Fitch models trying to "out hot" each other.

Overall the film was cute and worked fine, but it lacked most of the emotion and actual peril the book rewarded us with-and what a 3 to 5-episode mini-series could've delivered.

I said the same thing when I watched the trailer and I was right. The book had so much details that simply cannot be captured in a 2-hour movie. While, the movie does its best to capture important moments, many crucial moments were still lost to the winds. It's a good and entertaining movie but maybe I would've enjoyed it more if I hadn't read the book.

I missed the characters who were crucial to the story and to what makes Alex Alex. The characters they kept were watered down to the point of blandness and the story felt too fast-paced and rushed.

The chemistry between the leads though takes the cake and although their story could have been more expounded, it was really well done and for that I'm glad.

This was a feel good romcom that leaned into the fantasy/fairy tale elements that all good rom coms do, and it was exactly what I needed! I can't think of another gay romcom I've enjoyed watching more. A few lines of dialogue are a bit iffy, but overall it's got solid writing and directing.

The movie shines with the passion the team behind it clearly brought to the table. The intimacy coordinator did an incredible job. The performances are all pretty good, and the leads have undeniable chemistry together, making the central romance one that the audience falls in love with as much as they are falling for each other throughout the movie.

Yes, it could fit in with a lot of the other Hallmark/Netflix genre romantic movies, but that's what makes this truly remarkable. The groundbreaking thing about this movie is that it felt like a movie I had never seen, and yet like a movie I had seen a million times. It is peak comfort viewing, it has a happy ending, and I for one am incredibly glad that this movie exists and is happy to just be what it is - unabashedly.

At only 2 hours, I am sure there are a lot of scenes that were cut that I would have loved to have seen included. I do think had this been a mini-series, it would have perhaps been even better. But then again, I think the movie succeeds very well for what it has chosen to utilize. The pace is fast, but it works.

This is a movie I'd highly recommend if you want to enjoy a feel-good romcom.