Written by: Karen Schaler & Nathan Atkins
Starring: Rose McIver, Ben Lamb, Tom Knight, Sarah Douglas, Daniel Fathers, Alice Krige
Rating: [1.5/5]
Media coverage of famous individuals tend to not tell their whole story given that the more salacious material they can write about them genuinely drives home more clicks. It’s what makes getting to know that person pretty much a revelation given it becomes obvious even these famous individuals have the same mortality as anyone else. In A Christmas Prince, our budding journalist gets to learn this firsthand when she gets the opportunity to do a story on a supposed playboy prince.
Magazine journalist Amber (Rose McIver) receives an assignment to travel to Aldovia to cover a press conference for Prince Richard (Ben Lamb), who stands to ascend and become king following the death of his father. With the reputation of being a playboy, Amber seeks to learn more about him and accidentally gets confused as the tutor of Princess Emily (Honor Kneafsey). She then takes the opportunity to use this access to get the real scoop on this royal family.
In keeping with most Christmas movies of this ilk, one cannot possibly take it too seriously, as it barely holds itself to any real standards of competent filmmaking. On its best day, it hopes to provide some cheesy entertainment for the holiday season as it mixes a bit of romance with a time period that seeks to make everyone feel warm and cozy on the inside. A Christmas Prince certainly attempts to create this through its runtime, but its ridiculousness truly knew no bounds, and it made for quite the grating experience as a result.
To even buy most of what transpires in this film one has to make liberties about the ridiculousness of this nation of Aldovia. First, the fact that a magazine would send someone over to cover a press conference of this nation genuinely makes me laugh considering this nation cannot be taken seriously in the way it handles this ascension, but it only gets worse the more time we spend with the sovereign nation. The fact that Amber could possibly be confused for the tutor of the princess without any sort of verifiable proof other than her being in the castle at the time and being American serves as yet another genuinely laughable moment but everything here needs to build up to her Amber learning about the greatness of this prince. Everyone misunderstands him and the budding romance they share serves as what needs to hold this film together.
When we get these moments of Amber with Prince Richard, they make the case of what makes them a winning couple. The actors certainly try their best in doing so, but unsurprisingly given the other lacking areas of this film on a technical level, it assuredly does the same in making these two a couple we should entirely care come together. It surely does not help that the leading actors here do not possess the best acting chops to begin with, which means the material they receive truly gets felt at its most negative.
Of all the criticisms I have for this film, I will give it props for a reveal it makes that completely flips everything we know about the story on its head. The way it all gets resolved leaves plenty lacking, but it presents a storyline I never considered when discussion the royal line of succession for a sovereign nation. This reveal genuinely uncovers something very sweet about the characters involved, even if the way they land the plane does get handled in quite a sloppy manner.
Created as a throwaway film that actually received some sequels I assuredly will never watch, A Christmas Prince serves its place a Christmas film to watch if you want something to throw on while you put up your decorations to get in the Christmas spirit. However, if one wants a genuinely well-told tale with some competent technical elements such as lighting, then you would be better off watching pretty much anything else. Well, at least not the other sequels, as one can only presume that they do not get much better. An unfortunate effort overall, but these Christmas movies come out like a conveyor belt and are made to be instantly forgotten. I can confidently say that will happen with my thoughts on this movie 5 seconds from now.
Films with Josh 
