The Winter Palace

Plot-wise, this was a common example of the royal/commoner romance plot. Danica McKellar is a new author with one successful novel who is being pressured to submit her second romance novel per her contract. Predictably she has writers block and is given the opportunity to be a caretaker at a remote lodge in the mountains for some peace and quiet. No, it's not haunted and she doesn't turn into a homicidal maniac. Sorry to disappoint. The owners are European and haven't been there for years. All she has to do is knock the icicles off the eaves, take care of the furnace, and find her inspiration to honor her contract. The owner shows up unexpectedly and it's a prince with his two minions.

This was watchable thanks to Neal Bledsoe who played the prince. He was very attractive and had a lot of charisma. He also had a personality, starting off snooty and entitled and loosening up slowly but surely while becoming enamored of Danica. The two actors had a nice rapport going throughout. Danica did good in this one. Despite the usual, and I do mean usual, roadblocks, it all proceeds to a happy ending and I liked the resolution to the "how can an American romance novelist find happiness with a Concordian King" dilemma.

A typical fairy tale TV movie that does exactly what watchers of these movies want. I didn't know of Neal Bledsoe, but his accent was pretty good. There are a lot of principalities, duchy's and Crown states in Europe, perhaps trying something not sounding so British would be a novel idea.

Why can't the makeup department ever get Danica's eyelashes on correctly? It's distracting and certainly not flattering. Hallmark never got them right either.

I enjoyed this movie. I like the ones that involve royalty because there are built-in major obstacles that must be overcome. They are FAIRY TALES. When you watch them, you have to keep that in mind and not expect an Oscar-winning screenplay based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. They're just fun.

Could some things have been done better? Yes. Do I care? No. And I'm puzzled at those who disparage Danica McKellar's acting. She displayed a range of emotions, and her sadness and tears came across as genuine. For those who say she is always the same, couldn't that be said, for the most part, of most of the women and men in these movies? They're romances with young adults experiencing much the same things, over and over. It's just part of it.

For me, this movie was an enjoyable escape from everyday life.

If you take this movie as purely a fairy tale with some humor thrown in, then the story itself is decent. In that vein, I thought that this "royal" movie was a bit further from any reality and closer to fantasy than most. Even the relationship between Emily and Prince Henry seemed unreal to me and that's where a movie like this should be a little more believable.

The final scene would have been much better without an overly long cheesy speech. There was one really excellent line by Edwina.

The sets seemed a little cheap and given the presumed location there should have been more good scenery.