La sfilata di Natale

It is paining me to say that. 'A Christmas in Royal Fashion' could easily have been a sweet, charming film to not expect too much from, it had potential to be and a huge part of me wanted it to be. Being somebody who loves Christmas, a fair share of Christmas films and was expecting to not demand too much. Certainly not something Oscar-worthy when it is not that kind of film and that was pretty obvious from the get go, even from the title alone.

Am aware that 'A Christmas in Royal Fashion' was not something to take too seriously and that the "once upon a time" opening is a big clue enough that it was not a film to expect too much realism from. Am pretty sure that despite how they come over, the previous negative reviewers were aware of this too. What they are driving at is most likely that the situations are just too difficult to buy and that it was hard to see what Kristin saw in Patrick, which are two of 'A Christmas in Royal Fashion's' biggest drawbacks.

Will start with 'A Christmas in Royal Fashion's' good things. It has some nice scenery. The soundtrack is very infectious and enhances the magical atmosphere that Christmas creates.

Cindy Busby is a likeable screen presence as the one character that one comes close to engaging with.

Diarmaid Murtagh is the complete opposite. He is as far away from dashing and charming as one can get, the prince is a complete jerk of a character who never properly evolves and Murtagh plays him with no charm and little personality. There was no spark, wit or warmth in the chemistry between him and Busby, and most of the film is dedicated to the viewer being at a loss as to what Kristin sees in him. The supporting cast have nothing to work with, in roles that are bland and at worst cartoonish.

The nice scenery is wasted by the drab and hasty-looking photography and the direction never rises above routine. The script is inane personified with some groan-worthy and cringe-inducing howlers at times, and the story left me bored and cold on top of the increasing ridiculousness. Never felt uplifited, my heart never warmed and the charm was missing, it was just non-stop far-fetchedness and blandness with very little worth endearing to.

Overall, has its moments but mostly it doesn't work. 4/10.

Didn't have high expectations for this movie but it was worse than I anticipated. It is family friendly and in general the acting is OK given the script. The accent of the Prince character however is so annoying. Not sure what he was going for but it is just irritable. If you want to watch a harmless Christmas movie with the kids this may do the job, otherwise don't bother.

The story line for this movie was hard to believe. The guy who played the prince was a lousy actor who looked like an over weight football player. It was hard to believe that there would be any chemistry between him and Cindy Busby. Couldn't watch the whole movie. She came across as a nice person and he was a jerk.

"Once upon a time" Hollywood and all its knockoffs started making fairy tales of the Disney princess variety. This movie might as well be animated because the story and acting are what you might expect from those movies.

As Kristin repeatedly acknowledges, what she did was wrong. In the world that a real Kristin would live in, the mistakes she made are never forgiven and there's reasons for that. In the world that Walt Disney created, there's always a happy ending for a person like Kristin. This movie is firmly entrenched in the latter, so it's best to try to work within that framework in judging the movie. Also, if that's not what you want to watch, then don't.

The story, the dialogue, the actions of the characters, and the acting are all consistent with that framework. Even so, some of the acting was still a little stiff. The dialogue was so-so.

I can't decide what I think of Kristin. In the beginning, she shows signs of being a player who would do almost anything to get ahead, but she also quickly shows some self-doubts about that approach. She repents of her deception and intends to make it right. After being exposed, she owns responsibility and is ready to accept the consequences. Diarmaid Murtagh never appealed to me and I was never that impressed with the character Patrick. Patrick and Kristin had so little time together that I never really thought they had chemistry and beyond that was at a total loss as to why either one should love the other.

There are a couple of sentimental moments having to do with Amy, the child cancer patient toward the end of the movie.

The climax and ending fit the fairy tale mold very well.

Let me say that having allowed that you can't judge this movie according to most of the Christmas rom/coms we see this time of year, I still didn't enjoy it. I didn't appreciate the humor. I used my DVR's FF button liberally. That's my own personal preference.

The best part of this movie is its cute title. The plot was predictable, of course, which isn't always bad because I watch movies like this for the predictable happy ending. But, there was no depth of character. The characters were terribly flat making it difficult to like or connect with them. Cindy Busby is one of my least favorite actresses and she was this movies bright spot.