"You are the author of your own story."
Hello everyone!
I know, it's been a while!
I had a full on faze for a while where the ONLY thing I'd watch were Hallmark movies, but then I got over-saturated and I stopped.
Now, I'll still watch one every once in a while, but for the most part I've moved on.
I was kind of hooked on the trailer for tonight's movie of choice, however, mostly because of the wardrobe depicted within that reminded me VERY strongly of Catherine, Princess of Wales.
And turns out I was right in that it IS quite reminiscent of it!
But the movie itself falls kind of in the middle of the scales, neither horrible nor good, so without further ado let's have a look at The Royal We.
As it's been a bit since my last Hallmark movie review, there aren't any links down at the bottom of this post.
And I also have to add that the main cast member, Mallory Jansen, was another huge draw, as I've been a fan of her from her Galavant days.
Anyway, Bea is living a blissful life in Boston as a civilian while her older sister, the crown princess, is engaged to the crown prince of the neighbouring kingdom. Their marriage is supposed to end disputes over a province that lies smack dab in the middle, which sounds great and all, but there's a catch:
the crown princess elopes with a plumber, leaving the crown prince hanging.
So Desmond and his entourage hightail it to Boston to find Bea, whee he proposes to her instead.
Bea's BFF cannot BELIEVE that this is actually happening, but naturally Bea says no - I mean naturally as in, naturally for her particular character, because despite the fact that she's just been dumped by her boyfriend (who I honestly thought would crop up again once he learned she's a bona fide princess, but Hallmark doesn't pull that card in this one), she's an independent woman and doesn't really feel like arranged marriage is her thing.
However, after a summit between their two fathers falls flatter than a pancake, Bea has to rethink her strategy and decides welp, time to sacrifice my privacy and marry the dude.
What follows is a series of events during which Desmond's aide, Edwin, somehow comes across as the villain of the story pushing the narrative along by a schedule HE deems appropriate, while Bea convinces Desmond to play loose every once in a while so that he isn't as constricted by all the rules.
In all of this, you might be wondering: where the heck are her parents? Why didn't Edwin go through THEM first for this engagement plan?
The answer: I have no idea.
They don't seem to be terribly disappointed that their oldest daughter quite literally almost started a war eloping with a PLUMBER of all people, and they don't have much of a reaction to this new plan of substituting her with Bea in the engagement, either. Frankly put, they have no reaction unless it's to be insulted over something Desmond's father does, and even then it's just the dad. The mom is for the most part a non-entity .
Anyway, Bea slowly begins making this whole princess thing HER way rather than letting everyone else dictate it, and she and Desmond bond over insomnia and her talent for remembering what people tell her, which is essentially just good people skills.
It also turns out she's pretty good at conflict resolution, as she realizes she may need to work on the dads more than anyone else, so she and her BFF run a quick workshop the way they would in Boston to figure out what the problem is.
Basically, the kings used to be BFFs themselves, until they got home from boarding school and THEIR fathers were like, you can't trust anyone who isn't our citizen, the end.
With all that solved, there's a a peaceful treaty that comes to fruition, and the parents all agree their kids don't need to "suffer" through the arrangement.
So Bea and Desmond say goodbye, but neither of them is happy, and both rush back to the other only to meet at the border, where Desmond gets down on one knee for the THIRD time that movie, and Bea accepts his proposal. They kiss, and the movie ends with them planning their wedding, with some guest mentions from some other couples that feature in Hallmark's royal movies.
Which, as they say, means all's well that ends well!
I mean, overall, this is a nice, easy kind of movie, but there isn't really any real conflict, and most of it isn't even romantic, either, or isn't pushing to be, despite the fact the two leads are falling in love over the course of it.
Most of it is simply about these two tiny kingdoms being incapable of functioning, and even the falling in love is kind of ... uninspiring for the most part.
It's a good movie, but it can't quite decide what it wants to be and so generally fails on all counts other than killing time for an hour and a half.
Mallory Jansen definitely deserves better! Especially with her gorgeous wardrobe absolutely taking inspiration from Catherine's, I dare anyone to argue, take a look at the white dress chosen for the stairs slip scene, or the polka-dot for when she goes to greet people at the gates. Classic Catherine style.
xx
*images and video not mine
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