Red, White & Royal Blue

Great movie! We definitely need more of these. A LOT more of these. I'm happy that the big studios are finally noticing the need for big budget gay romcoms that don't end with one of the main guys dead or in a straight relationship.

The acting was not Oscar worthy but still quite believable. Except for Uma. She's absolutely electric every time she's on screen.

The cinematography - absolutely breathtaking. There were some scenes that were quite original - like the texting scene.

The writing - could have been better but "it got the job done".

One thing I'd like to point out - that I'm very happy about - is that this movie skipped on the stereotypical flamboyant gay character that I have been loathing in every gay movie made in the past 2 decades. Both of the main characters are your "average" handsome dudes who just happen to be gay and famous. I also LOVE how this movie portrays being gay as something sooooooo normal (which is it!) No one has some crazy reaction to the characters being gay. Even the King who is against it at first makes it clear that he's only against it for political reasons. Overall, this movie portrayed exactly what being gay felt like for so many of us and it did it phenomenally well.

Like I said - it's just nice that we are finally getting movies like these. I wish there were movies like this one when I was growing up. It would have really made a difference! So while I don't think that this movie alone will change anyone's life I think we need to support gay romcoms when they do come out so that eventually we'll have some really good ones!

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.

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.

Although this is a typical romcom drama, it feels seminal because it takes Gay movies quite firmly into the mainstream. Yes, we've had many mainstream LGBT films over the years, but they tended to be hard hitting dramas or sad tragedies, with many focusing on the challenges facing the LGBTQ+ community. Yes, we can refer to movies such as the brilliant Pride or recent (not so great) Bros, the sweet Love Simon etc. But this takes it into the fairytale realm: the love between an American President's son and a British Prince, and so, feels that bit different and special as a result.

What Red, White and Royal Blue does is cross the final barrier in placing a gay love story slap bang in the midst of the romcom genre that has traditionally been so straight for so long ... too long, with gay characters merely ancillary storylines if included at all. It reminds me of the Princess Diaries, for example, and just has that sense of being groundbreaking because it's firmly a movie that anyone would watch and everyone should. In essence, it is a family film, innocuous and largely innocent like most others in the genre.

The lovemaking and conversations around sex were no more and no less in your face than any teen romcom and it was pitched well at a wide audience. It would be an ideal movie for young Gay and Bi people who can see themselves represented unashamedly in a mainstream Hollywood type romcom. In that respect, Hollywood is very late in bringing forward a movie like this and similar have existed for many years in Europe, particularly French/Belgian cinema, and the Irish film Handsome Devil to a good degree.

The two lead actors were very good indeed but Nicholas Galitzine, who plays Prince Henry, really steals the show, not just through his stunning beauty but his remarkable acting ability and subtle emotionality which convey such presence that you'd think he was a very seasoned actor indeed. Taylor Perez isn't far behind and also very handsome and talented. They made a very sexy onscreen couple (swoon!) and they should both be very proud of this film, as should the direction and production teams.

There is a moment of great hilarity when the elusive King of England finally enters, played by none other than Stephen Fry, and it crossed my mind that he'd be equally comfortable playing the Queen, and I did laugh at the idea that he might have. I'm pretty sure he'd be amused by that.

Of course, we wouldn't have films such as these without the original story so much credit to the author Casey McQuiston who wrote the book of the same name. People should credit the author of a story in my view because without them, we wouldn't have cinema and writers are forgotten in many cases, with those who write the screenplay often mistakingly assigned the credit for the story. Lots of people are saying that the script leaves out a large part of the book, certain important scenes and characters and that's a pity that they feel it's not as good as the book, but as someone who hasn't read the book I probably will now and look forward to an even better story.

Overall it's higher end for a romcom in production quality and budget and the cast in general are great. There are the customary cheesy speeches and sappy emotion but underlying it is a strong emotional love story that was very touching and I know there will be much excitement in the LGBTQ+ world about this, Heartstopper style excitement. It is justifiable and well deserved.

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!!