Christmas 2020 Reviews: Day 7 - A Christmas Prince (2017)

A Christmas Prince follows Amber (played by Rose McIver), a New York junior editor for a magazine, who wants to break into real journalism. When her boss sends her to the small kingdom Aldovia, it seems that Amber's luck is improving, as she is requested to write about the kingdom's rebellious, bad boy, Prince Richard (played by Ben Lamb).

However, when Amber reaches the castle, she is mistaken for the Prince's younger sister's tutor. She goes along with this identity error so that she can live in the palace and learn more about the prince. She begins to learn that Richard might not be what everyone thinks he is, and in fact, that this prince could be quite charming...

Did I make myself gag a little as I wrote that opening synopsis? Yes, but in my defence, that's what the first half an hour of this film did to me too.

I truly hated the beginning of this film. The opening shots and the style of font used for the opening credits made the film look a lot older than it was. This film was made in 2017, but this opening looked like it was from 2005, or possibly even earlier. it was cheaply done, and there was no sense of style to it. Not the best start.

We meet Amber and her friends, Melissa and Andy, who work in her office with her. All of them are resentful of the fact that they aren't where they want to be in their career paths and feel overlooked. However, Melissa and Andy are supportive of Amber when she gets her Aldovia opportunity, which is nice. There's also a scene with her dad, which feels a bit bland, but it adds some nice context to Amber's character. These parts all look a bit cheaply filmed, and the acting isn't top notch, but I don't have a real problem with this start of the film.

It's when she reaches Aldovia that things get tricky.

She has a run in with an impolite man who steals her cab. I won't say who it is, because I want to keep this spoiler free, but if you want to guess who that man is, you'll be correct on your first try.

Amber reaches the castle and attends a press conference, but the prince doesn't show up, so it's cancelled. Amber then takes it upon herself to explore the castle and find answers on her own. As she is taking photos of the furnishings, a butler walks by and mistakes her for the Princess' tutor, which is an identity error she doesn't fight very hard against.

This is where my problems with the film really began. Where do I start?

First of all, after the press conference is a failure, the journalists who attended all walk away, disappointed. Yet Amber says to herself that she can't return home empty handed. Why not? At least 50 other journalists have no choice but to do the exact same thing. Breaking into the castle to try and get some semblance of a story doesn't make you committed to your work, it means you are a potential burglar.

Secondly, how awful must the security of that castle be if some woman can just walk in and start taking photos of whatever she likes? And what kind of butler are you if you assume some woman is going to be tutoring the princess, just because she's American?

I worked in a primary school, and got more of a background check than this, as I should have done. Bear in mind, Amber is supposed to be tutoring a PRINCESS one to one, alone. Did no one want to double check who she was? The tutor's name is supposed to be Martha, and they don't even want to look at some form of identification to check that one fact alone. They don't even ask to look at her passport to confirm she is who she says she is, they just welcome her in right away.

Another member of staff says that the tutor wasn't supposed to arrive until the next month, but they just believe Amber's excuses because she's American, like the tutor agency they applied to. What? You just had a press conference on your grounds less than twenty minutes ago. The staff are really so naïve that it doesn't enter their heads at all that maybe, just maybe, the nice blonde American lady isn't who she says she is? Just phone the tutor agency and confirm with them that they have in fact sent out the tutor!

Worst of all, she was wearing a bright red badge that says she is a member of the press when she goes into the castle, although this magically disappears as soon as she enters her lie. It's ridiculous and lazy.

Then we meet the royals themselves, including Prince Richard. They all seem smug and mean, and paired with our law-breaking, thoughtless protagonist, I wasn't a fan.

Amber concludes their first meeting by accidentally smashing a priceless vase, because we've never seen a clumsy female protagonist before, how original and funny! No, I was ready to switch the film off at this time, to the point that I was seriously considering not including this trilogy in this months Christmas films.

But then something changed. I don't know how, and I don't know when, but my opinion slowly changed. I liked this film. I don't love it, but it's a fun, fluffy film reminiscent of other movies such as The Beautician and the Beast (which it's not quite as good as) and The Prince and Me (which it's better than), but set at Christmas.

The two leads have a slow burn romance, and it works well thanks to the actors chemistry together.

The plot was surprisingly well-developed, and there were a couple of twists that caught me off guard. Watch the film and decide for yourself if you think those twists were good, but I personally found it nice to be surprised by a film like this. Although, perhaps my mind was easily mouldable after it turned to mush at witnessing the ineptitude of Amber being mistaken for a tutor.

The castle setting is actually quite nice, although I do find myself wondering why when Americans decide to make a film about a royal family, they all have English accents despite being in a made up country.

A highlight of this film for me was Princess Emily, played by Honor Kneafsey. I did not like this character when she was introduced. She was a bratty child who hated all of her previous tutors, playing pranks on them to frighten them off. It didn't help that she bears a strong physical resemblance to Veruca Salt from the Tim Burton film verson Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, possibly the brattiest child character of all time.

Then her character softens. It's a lot faster than I would have liked, and shows barely any progression in her character. However, I really like this actress. After A Very British Christmas, I was reluctant to find myself watching another Christmas film with a prominent child character, but Kneafsey does a fantastic job with the role. She makes a convincing brat, but when you see her softer side, you really warm to her.

I also like that her disability is mentioned a little, but they don't play it up or make her seem overly weak because of it. I would have liked a bit of clarification as to what her disability actually is, but at least she's still allowed to be an active character from the beginning.

Overall, this film is longer than it needs to be, the protagonists intentions are rather twisted, and it looks cheap at times. However, in an odd way, it's charming, comfortable viewing with some pretty Christmas imagery and decent acting. If you don't mind a bit of royal-themed cheesiness, this will be nice viewing for you, but be warned, this isn't to everyone's taste.

THE SCOREBOARD

Would I recommend this film? If you want the very lightest of fluff and don't care about plot substance, then this is fine to have on in the background while you're opening your presents. If you want something more than that however, then the lack of sensibility from almost all of the characters will probably get on your nerves, and you might want to miss this one out.

Christmas quote of the film: "Where there's a tiara, there's dirt." - Andy (for a Christmas film, there aren't really any conversations about Christmas, so this will have to do).

Film rating: 4/10