A Christmas Prince (2017)

The Age of Commercialism

As Good As It Gets

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

6/6/18. I really liked this movie about a modern day romance between a prince and a journalist looking for a story. The movie did a good job of perpetuating our ideas of what a monarchy would be like in our day and age. It humanizes the reluctant heir apparent with a sensibility that is totally lacking in the pretender to the throne and the woman who is a bit too interested in having a crown on her head. Nice ending. Heard there's a sequel to this movie, which would be nice.

I have seen other Netflix productions of high quality, this is not one of them. What happened here I do not know, after watching the movie I am left with the impression that this was made in a hurry.The base story line is actually ok and had potential, this is a light feel good romantic Christmas story, so the basic story is exactly what we who love this type of movies are looking for. Unfortunately, the film is ruined by bad acting, over caricatured characters, bad writing and poor dialog, also bad/cheap quality in the production. For example, seeing pictures of the newspapers web sites, they don't even look like real web pages, and that should not be a hard thing to make.I think children probably will like this, with the over simplification and over characterizing that often helps children understanding the story, for us adults it is painful to watch. The look of the castle in Christmas lights is stunning and beautiful. The casting of actors Ben Lamb as the Prince and Alice Krige as the Queen is a good match, but they can only do so much with the lines they have been given.Summary: If only Netflix had spent some more time in developing the dialog and story and looked for better actors this could have been great.

Liked the movie but there's better one.I finally watched the, by now, cult phenomenon "A Christmas Prince" on Netflix. It's not bad and I'm a big fan of Rose McGiver, a.k.a Liv Moore on iZombie, so I give it a Thumbs Up.However, I like others, was struck by the similarities with "A Princess for Christmas", which is a superior movie if for nothing else that is does have a Christmas theme, not like "A Christmas Prince", which purports to be a Christmas movie, but is like so many other movies which are simply romance or dramatic films which occur during Christmas.A case in point is "It's a Wonderful Life" which isn't really about Christmas at all.Here is my list of similarities of the two films:* Young woman (YW) becomes involved with a royal family * Same castle: Peles Castle, Stirbei Castle, the Bragadiru Palace, Romania * Snowy * Horses galloping in the snow * Misunderstood prince (MP) with parent issues * There's been a death in YW's and MP's families * MP does archery (a family tradition) outside on one of the the castle walkways * MP shows young relative how to use the bow & arrow * An old Xmas tree ornament is found with deep family significance and parent of MP hangs it on the tree * Snooty upper-class woman (Lady Sophia, SLS), the MP's ex girlfriend wants the MP to marry her "We both know this isn't going to work" * Outdoor scene in the local village. Orphans are involved. * The MP's family plans a Christmas ball (CB) * Jealous SLS is suspicious of YW * MP's mother's imperious heart melts at YW's warmth * YW has a misunderstanding of MP's intentions (kissing SLS) * YW gets a new dress and makeover for the CB * YW comes down the ballroom steps in her glorious gown at the CB * YW's deception is revealed. She flees to the airport * YW is rescued, agrees to marry MP

Let's forget about the corny plot. Of course, a movie titled "A Christmas Prince" can't be that intriguing as in terms of the storyline. Therefore, one could conclude that the charm of the leads could help propel the film or at least make it consumable to the Netflix audience-of course it's not the case here! The main problem seems to be the prince. Ben Lamb has absolutely no charm on screen. Makes you wonder how he got this lofty role as the prince and Rose McIver is no Reese Witherspoon. The pairing of McIver and Lamb had no chemistry. The prince is too much of a wimp and the journalist is rather dull. Overall, a very disappointing movie.