It’s somewhat rare for a streaming rom-com to get a lot of buzz before it is released. But when the source material is a New York Times bestseller in a genre that doesn’t usually gain that kind of attention, I suppose that creates some anticipation for the film adaptation. I have not read Casey McQuiston’s queer romance, but I was nevertheless looking forward to director Matthew López’s take on “Red, White & Royal Blue,” currently streaming on Prime Video.
First son Alex Claremont-Diaz (Taylor Zakhar Perez) is in London to attend a royal wedding alongside his nemesis Prince Charles (Nicholas Galitzine). The two get into a fight and are forced to go on a kind of peacemaking tour. They sort out their differences while spending time together, developing a close friendship. Eventually, Henry confesses his attraction to Alex and the two begin a clandestine romance due to Alex’s mother running for reelection and the concerns of what the palace would think about a gay prince. When their relationship is revealed through leaked texts and emails, the couple will have to decide how and if their romance can move forward.
The fairy tale aspects of this movie felt like they were fighting a bit with some of the more traditional portions of this movie. It starts with a huge wedding cake toppling over onto the pair, completely burying them in sponge and frosting which is very emblematic of a sweet, Hallmark-style rom-com. But it also has a lot of suggestive language and some sex scenes are more what you expect from a traditional
PG-13 theatrical rom-com. The royals disapprove of a gay prince, but somehow a bisexual child of the president makes her more electable in Texas. I can suspend disbelief for the sake of romance, but when it tries to be realistic as well, it makes that suspension a lot harder to hold onto.
The performances from the two leads were wonderful. They have a great chemistry together and they fully commit to their roles. The supporting cast is fine. Uma Thurman as the president was a bit of a shocker for me, but the scene after her son comes out to her is quite lovely and I enjoyed those interactions. And Stephen Fry showing up as the King was an absolute delight.
Ultimately, this movie just felt tonally all over the place. It doesn’t play it as safe and sweet as a movie like “Single All the Way” or go as hard as “Bros” did — both movies I quite enjoyed. There is humor and romance in this, for sure — one cut to a famous Washington, D.C., landmark after a particular scene got a big laugh from me — but it just felt like it wasn’t quite able to commit to one style of rom-com, and I think it suffered for that. It’s a nice story and it goes down easy, but this movie tries to have its cake (scene) and eat it too, and I’m not sure that worked.
