A Royal Date for Christmas

... of course, it's mandatory for Canadian and American productions to not do any homework, making anything 'foreign' not even remotely correct or authentic. I think it's so ridiculous and insulting for the many thousands of British actors that Canadians were used to portray all Brits. Accents weren't terrible but still cringe. I know it's just a fun film, not a serious portrayal of a royal's life, but almost nothing about etiquette and how things go is anywhere near reality (including royal estates not being decorated in tacky plastic, even when in tacky America). Also, a duke isn't necessarily royal. Possible, though. Also, "You have Christmas trees growing on your property?!" is my new silliest line in a film. They're not called Christmas trees. They're pines or firs of whichever takes your fancy, but they only become Christmas trees when decorated in your home. And of course, my pet peeve with basically all American and surprisingly also Canadian Christmas films: we are able to operate on babies in utero these days, but somehow making artificial snow look real is impossible for these production companies.

Luckily, it does have some heart and even though it's of course predictable, it's also a fun angle.

While I liked the movie I can't say that I loved it. It needed more conflict... it needed a 'Bad Guy'. Danica did a great job but it sort of felt like something was missing.

I still think her best movie was Crown For Christmas. That one was amazing, and if you haven't seen it, you should watch it ASAP. It really captured the good old Christmas Magic.

The acting was all quite well done. And Danica ALWAYS looks incredible, in a red dress at any party/ball/dance she shows up at. It was fun to see her dance a little in this. Reminded me of how great she was with Gleb in her other movie.

If you're looking for a nice way to pass the time on a cold winter's evening, give A Royal Date For Christmas a shot. You won't regret it!

No spark between the main characters. Probably impossible to have a spark with the range of emotion the duke showed. To be fair, with so much Botox in your face it might be quite impossible to have many facial expressions.

The capitalist, Christmas spirit was very touching: "You would be amazed how much joy a new shawl or accessory can bring!"

Like most hallmark movies very suitable to watch with a rom com cliche bingo card in hand. There were several moments that could've been executed better. The classic "fights"/"problems" were way too small, it was too smooth sailing. At a certain point I was even convinced we'd get a "not handsome enough to tempt me"-moment and then it passed without conflict.

There were also several plot holes. Most noteworthy was when the duke was walking a mile with a saw in hand and when they got to the felling place an axe was handed to him.

I guess Danica McKellar and her new employers at GAC Family are hoping that they can replicate the magic of 2015's Crown for Christmas, which was a big hit for Hallmark and perhaps the best example of a good Royal Christmas movie.

Unfortunately for all involved, 'A Royal Christmas Romance' doesn't come close. It ticks the boxes, goes through the numbers - working class girl falls in love with a royal who has family issues or similar - and ends after a tidy ninety minutes. McKellar does what she can with what is a fairly dull script as Bella, who runs a boutique that the Duke of Tangford visits when he needs some clothes urgently. Ditto Damon Runyan as the Duke of T.

I guess this isn't a bad film per se. I certainly didn't hate it...it's just a film without any real stand-out moments. And you can set your watch by each of the tropey developments.

I would have enjoyed the movie A LOT more if the characters were actually dressed well. The colour pallet of the main character is horrible (red, blue, green) and it makes her being the stylist less credible. Also there wasn't a spark between the main characters but I finished the movie regardless.

It was the third romantic Christmas movie that I watched in a week but my least favourite because of the lack of spark between the characters.

You wouldn't miss a thing if you don't watch the movie but if you have time on your hands and love romantic christmas movies you can surely give it a shot!