Critics panned Red, White, and Royal Blue as “bland” and a “trashy teen romance” following its release this weekend — with many comparing the story to that of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
The Amazon movie, released this weekend, is based on Casey McQuiston’s bestseller, in which Mexican-American character Alex Claremont-Diaz, played by Taylor Zakhar Perez, falls in love with Britain’s Prince Henry, played by Nicholas Galitzine.
The duo go to great lengths to keep their romance a secret from the rest of the world, trying to avoid turning the two nations upside down – leading to some very steamy, intimate scenes.
When it was first published in May 2019, the book caused an instant sensation and rose to the top of the New York Times bestseller list.
But the highly anticipated movie – which features an A-lister cast, from Uma Thurman like Ellen Claremont, the president of the US Stephen Frits — has been widely panned by critics.
Critics have panned Red, White and Royal Blue as ‘bland’ and a ‘trashy teen romance’ after its release this weekend
Benjamin Lee of The Guardian gave the film two stars, calling it “overwhelming blandness” and writing, “Red, White and Royal Blue just isn’t the fun, brain-disconnected romp it could have been, all credit goes to intent rather than performance .’
In the meantime
Here’s a taste of what the critics have to say…
THE PROTECTOR
Benjamin Lee calls the film ‘well-meaning but listless’, to write: ‘(The protagonists) go from hating each other to falling in love as powers prevent them from going public, hitting every beat you’d expect but never by more than a light tap, the romantic highs never high enough and the melodramatic lows never really that low.’
THE INDEPENDENT
Jessie Thompson describes an “air of liberal fantasy” in the film, to writeThe whole plot feels heavily inspired by Prince Harry’s relentless, disgruntled media tour, right down to the line “Prince Henry belongs to Britain” and the fact that the character lost his father at a young age and “the palace insisted on letting me in.” parade around”…
The review goes on and on, I wish it was as good as the hype.’
BBC
Louis Staples writes the film tries with its plot “not to revolutionize the telling of strange stories.”
He notes that the British characters seem “wooden,” adding, “From the start, the film’s aesthetics and tone feel like a big-budget Hallmark movie.” It has all the predictable stereotypes: British people are uptight. And Americans? They are loud and annoying! Pioneering.’
He ends his review by saying, ‘If you’re looking for a movie about beautiful men with perfect hair and sculpted abs that doesn’t demand too much from you, it might be for you.
“But if you’re expecting it to be in the league of rom-coms that are hilarious out loud and say something really interesting about relationships — or anything other than lazy clichés — then you’re going to be royally disappointed.”
FINANCIAL TIMES
Leslie Felperin writes“Spoiler alert: Everyone gets a happy ending, more or less, even the uptight monarch (none other than Stephen Fry).
“The script evenly distributes the cheeky witticisms between the British and the Yanks to avoid diplomatic ill-will.
Some of the lines are pretty funny, like calling someone gay like “the first 50 rows at a Lady Gaga concert,” but they never dilute a sugary confection.
“It will make many viewers feel like they’re covered in marzipan, cake and royal icing.”
EVENING STANDARD
Meanwhile, Maddy Mussen was more generous to the film, giving four stars out of five in her review.
She writes that the sex scenes are a “high point” compared to Sally Rooney’s Normal People.
She pens: ‘The plot is relatively predictable, so you just go through the motions, like most rom-coms, but it’s the chemistry of the protagonists that makes Red, White and Royal Blue so watchable.
“Red, White, and Royal Blue is a welcome addition in an age when we have relatively few rom-coms, and it will push the world to be queer teens everywhere — though I have no doubt it will be voraciously gobbled up by straight and LGBTQ+ people. teenagers alike.’
RICH
Helen O’Hara writesIf you can get past the exposition-soaked and leaden opening act, the story comes to life a bit as the pair grapple with their respective aspirations and positions…
The resolution Alex and Henry achieve, after an inspired bit of stunt casting in the third act, is smoothly achieved, but all-too-good endings are almost a hallmark, not a bug, of the rom-com genre.
“There’s nothing substantial or groundbreaking about the way things play out outside of our heroes’ identities, but at least there’s a laugh (many thanks to Sarah Shahi’s presidential chief of staff). Maybe that’s enough.
“Everyone deserves a mindless, fluffy rom-com once in a while — even if the fluff is ermine this time.”
VARIETY
Peter Deburge comments the plot is “Nickelodeon-level,” adding, “While most of the film functions as wish-fulfillment fantasy, López uses the Trojan horse approach to bring issues of HIV prevention, consent, and personal privacy alongside the main political point of addressing the movie: namely, that queer romances can be just as corny as their straight counterparts.
“As political platforms go, that’s hope and change in one.”
NEW YORK POST
Lauren Sarner writes it’s a ‘career worst performance’ for Uma Thurman, Comment: ‘The second half of the film plods on too long and gets juicy…
“Despite all this, many of the jokes in the movie are funny, the relationship is adorable, and while Thurman nearly sinks the ship, Perez and Galitzine are good enough to keep it afloat through choppy waters.”
THE SPECTATOR
Deborah Ross writes the film “doesn’t have the same wit or savvy or budget” as Bridgerton’, adding, “It’s modestly fun, and there’s the occasional good line, but the characters seem rushed and representative rather than living, breathing people and , as a result, the actors can only provide limited performances.
Overall, it’s like getting hit on the head with one of those photo love stories from Jackie magazine. There is probably more depth in the book. But that’s just a guess.’
The duo go to great lengths to keep their romance a secret from the rest of the world, trying to avoid turning the two nations upside down – leading to some very steamy, intimate scenes
Despite the poor reviews, Prime Video may be hoping the film follows the success of other streaming service sexy book adaptations, such as Netflix’s hit series Bridgerton.
When an altercation between Alex and Price Henry makes headlines, American and British relations quickly collapse.
The most important people of both nations decide that the two boys must make a truce: and make it convincing.
But what initially begins as a fake Instagram friendship quickly develops into one in which both harbor more intense feelings.
The only problem? They must keep it a secret to avoid ruining a presidential campaign and further upsetting both nations.
For the film, intimacy coordinator Robbie Taylor Hunt was given the role of ensuring that the physical intimacy between Henry and Alex was told “in the best and safest way possible,” according to Glamor.
For the film adaptation, intimacy coordinator Robbie Taylor Hunt was brought in to ensure that physical intimacy between Henry and Alex was told in the best and safest way possible.
Nicholas Galitzine said, ‘It’s a very vulnerable and familiar space. Taylor and I had to rely on each other because we really wanted to tell that story honestly and feel like we weren’t held back by our own boundaries that we were setting.
Prime Video may be hoping the film (pictured) follows the success of other streaming service sexy book adaptations, such as Netflix’s hit series Bridgerton
“It becomes a kind of beautiful choreography that all serves to facilitate these two young men who fell in love with each other. Robbie was very helpful in teaching me the physical language of the character.”
The Prime Video description reads: “Alex Claremont-Diaz (Taylor Zakhar Perez), the son of the first female president of the United States (Uma Thurman), and Britain’s Prince Henry (Nicholas Galitzine) have much in common: a stunningly good appearance. , undeniable charisma, international popularity… and a total disregard for each other.
Separated by an ocean, their long-running feud hasn’t really been much of a problem until a disastrous – and very public – altercation at a royal event becomes tabloid fodder, driving a potential wedge in US-British relations at the worst possible time.
The much-anticipated movie — already being dubbed the “romance of the summer,” according to reports — also features an A-lister cast, from Uma Thurman (pictured right) as U.S. President Ellen Claremont to Stephen Fry. It will be available on Prime Video on August 11
By entering damage reduction mode, their powerful families and respective handlers force the two rivals into a staged ‘truce’.
But as Alex and Henry’s frosty relationship unexpectedly begins to thaw into a tentative friendship, the friction that existed between them sparks something deeper than they ever expected.
“Red, White & Royal Blue, based on Casey McQuiston’s critically acclaimed New York Times bestseller, marks the feature film writing and directing debut of Tony Award-winning playwright Matthew López (The Inheritance).”