Un cadeau royal pour Noël

I'll give any movie a try if it has corgis in it, and this one had wall-to-wall corgis being cute and doing cute things. As for the storyline, well its about a misbehaving royal corgi that photo bombs a royal event. The corgi becomes a national sensation which leads to all kinds of good things for the community and the royal family's reputation. Meanwhile, the female lead falls in love with the dog trainer who is also the male lead. There is not much else to this movie other than fundraising/social events that give the corgis excuses to be in the movie. Its formula Hallmark and there is barely enough storyline in it to keep your interest. I came for the movie, but only stayed to the end for the corgis.

Hunter King plays Cecily, a corgi dog trainer who is hired to help Prince Edmond, played by Jordan Reno, who inexplicably bought a rescue corgi. I didn't really buy the premise, and I thought Reno looked more like a California surfer than an heir to the throne of the latest fake monarchy ("Comfrey"). But the dogs are really cute.

I'm really only writing this review to react (negatively) to Cecily's repeated bowing to royalty.

Americans should be polite, but they shouldn't bow to foreign leaders. This may be a bit lawyerly (I can't help it, I'm a lawyer) but the US Constitution (Article I, section 9, clause 8) prohibits titles of nobility or monarchy in the U. S. and it is considered inappropriate for Americans to bow or curtsy towards any foreign monarch or noble. We fought a war to get rid of kings and queens.

Nevertheless, in fairness to how the character was written, Cecily is a bit of a ditzy nervous fish out of water who undoubtedly wasn't sure what the protocol was. It's come to my attention (through my daughter) that the King sisters have generated rather strong mixed reactions. Joey King has built a successful career (the Kissing Booth) and Hunter King was entertaining in Hallmark's Hidden Gems. I find them appealing in an unconventional way and they're both talented. But I can see how that might not be a universal view.

This was actually a pleasant movie to watch. The corgis are cute and are wisely included in most of the scenes. One of my favorite scenes is when the future king is told to address the dog's "basic needs" by picking up its poop.

I can do without the overused "almost kiss" which occurs here during a "steamy" scene.

I enjoyed the reference to Charlotte's Web by E. B. White:

"We take to the breeze, we go as we please."

Prince Edmond dreams of such freedom, and Cecily has it.

I keep saying that I'm tired of the Royal and Regular Person trope but I have to admit, this wasn't a bad entry in the long list of Hallmark movies that repackage that trope.

I am not Hunter kings biggest fan, but I actually think she did well in this film and I loved her in her Royal hiking outfit with the cap. Prince Edmund is played well by Jordan Renzo, but the dogs are the real stars of this film starting with Mistletoe, of course!

Prince Edmund's staff hire dog trainer and author of Dog-ma, Cecily (played by Hunter King). She comes with bit of an agenda, to get the Royal family to sponsor her charity, which predictably leads to bad feelings on the Prince's part as he sees her as a grifter.

I really appreciated that the Princess and the Queen were played by good people...in fact there is only one misguided member of the Royal household. It. Was fun to have Cecily's friend and business partner, Jacob, be a Royal watcher (as I do know they exist).

Overall I enjoyed it...but mainly because of the dogs, so I recommend it to dog lovers especially those fond of Corgi's (whichbyiu can guess by the title).

Let's face it, most of the originality in this film goes to the dogs. They're cute and you do get a couple of almost real dog-training tips out of the experience.

For the romance, we have a famous dog trainer with a successful book and a Youtube presence, and a screw-up prince who may soon become King when his mother steps down from the throne. Of course, she has a long-denied romance with a handsome royal advisor. Don't they all?

The princess would have stolen the movie if they gave her more scenes, they did a better job of writing that character than the romantic leads, who seem to fall in love more because they like the problem dog than they find real affinity themselves.

The ending is utterly predictable with the unsolvable crisis occurring with a mere seven minutes of screen time left to suddenly solve it ... which is the timing for 95% of Hallmark romances.

Still, there were some fun moments and a couple of real laughs. For us, it's worth a watch but not repeat viewings.

There have been nannies, and world-class skaters, and matchmakers, and so many other excuses to spend time with a king or a prince. Another royal angle usually sees the prince or princess in the US where he or she is thrown together with the commoner in their world. This time it's a dog trainer at the castle. The prince has the reputation of a playboy but that persona is never seen in this movie.

There are gags centering around the dog's antics. There is some castle politics, but this queen and mother is surprisingly welcoming and so not the source of the problem.

The leads have mild chemistry. The acting is OK. The dialogue is OK. But there are no great highs or lows or surprises.