Un prince en cadeau

My reviews are usually short: this was a warm, uplifting movie with a great cast, terrific story and scenery. We enjoyed it thoroughly and it's a feel good movie that will brighten your spirits.

I'm not much of a fan of the "Royal" Christmas movies. I do love superheroes.

Lindsay is a true superhero. She doesn't fly like Supergirl. She can't deflect bullets like Wonder Woman. She doesn't have superstrength. But in the best traditions of those superheroes, Lindsay wants to change the world and her heart is almost big enough to do it.

First remember that rom/coms and Christmas movies often don't have much acquaintance with realism. They aren't supposed to. Especially so the "Royal" ones. So, if that's going to bother you, stay away from this movie. It probably pushes that envelope as much as any.

Lindsay doesn't have a selfish bone in her body. More than that, she understands as much or more than other movies' protagonists what the traditional movie sprit of Christ is. Lindsay wants to change the world by teaching orphans how much joy there is in giving. You see, orphans are lucky if they are in a position to receive one gift. They certainly don't have the resources to be giving them out right and left. So, what if Santa or whoever distributes gifts at the foundation gives them two? One to keep and one to give. (The grinch of realism tells me most of them will keep them both, but remember, we aren't supposed to care about realism.)

Meanwhile we have the prince and commoner story going also. It takes quite a bit of maneuvering by the writers to deal with the obvious cliche and predictability. But I have to give them credit. They walked that line better than most movies of this type. Most of those "that's blasphemy" moments which are usually ignored and done blatantly in the scripts are sidestepped instead.

This movie is verry upbeat. There's no mean antagonism between the leads on their first meeting. Her insult to him is said jokingly. The worst villain is the guy trying to take Lindsay's credit. Rival and mother have no meanness or arrogance.

For the circumstances, the acting is decent. There is real chemistry between Jen Lilly and Brendan Fehr (despite his fake royal accent). And there is a real Christmas message that comes through loud and clear. I might even start a tradition of giving two gifts at Christmas.

I've said it before - I love sappy.

We have immensely loved this movie. We have accidentally catch it on the TV, but don't regret watching it at all, moreover, it was a present for us. Great story, super actors/actresses, fantastic atmosphere, spiced with spirit of Christmas. It teaches a lot about love, human relationships and emotions, kindness, selflessness and the magic of gifting. Gifting from our heart can change the people and the whole world. It ends a bit suddenly, but the happy end compensates it. I cannot say any negative about the film. This movie is one the best ones I have ever watched. I really recommend it to everyone.

Seeing "Jared Booth" (from the series BONES ) playing royalty and speaking in a PHONEY British accent is so bad. Why do all these movies on Up, Hallmark, Family etc. INSIST on every "phoney country or principality " they make up for these movies' have everyone speaking in a British accent. Why can't they use a Germanic or French or Italian phoney accent, or just have them speak good old English. Not every person in Europe was educated in England. Some went to France or EVEN the United States to be educated. Fake accents are DUMB.

Just my HBAO (humble but accurate opinion"!

I enjoyed this movie very much, even though it was a classic "Hallmark" type movie even with fake royalty and accents. And let's face it, we all know and enjoy this type of movie no matter what some always seem to say.

That said, Brendan Fehr. Has come a long way from the "Roswell" days and does a good job as the Prince in this story, even though he has to do a fake accent (it's what we signed up for people).

Jen Lilley plays an idealist who wants to make the world a better place by influencing children to learn the joy of giving at a young age. She is fantastic in this role and it shouldn't be all that hard for her to play as she actually does the same thing in her REAL life. She took some pretty hard blows here in reviews from people who are accustomed to or more to the point, conditioned to seeing strong Women portrayed in a certain light. Lilley iis beautiful, dedicated, classy, positive and a little insecure all at the same time, but actually doing something positive every day to better the world. Nothing says strong independent Woman like that does.

Oh, her character in this movie does the same thing.