Back home

Red, White & Royal Blue

1475 votes

Producing House

After an altercation between Alex, the president's son, and Britain's Prince Henry at a royal event becomes tabloid fodder, their long-running feud now threatens to drive a wedge in U.S./British relations. When the rivals are forced into a staged truce, their icy relationship begins to thaw and the friction between them sparks something deeper than they ever expected.

movie

Status: Released

Released Date: 2023-07-27

Runtime: 118 mins

Director: Matthew López

Spoken language: English, Español

Genres: Comedy, Romance

Original title: Red, White & Royal Blue

Production Companies: Amazon Studios, Berlanti Productions

Production Countries: United States of America

Reviews

r

r96sk
Everything about <em>'Red, White & Royal Blue'</em> screams bad movie, yet somehow it manages to make itself watchable. I've not entirely sure how, as there honestly isn't one element of it that I'd class as absolutely good. The run time is too long, the acting is just OK, the story is (or should be, I guess) lousy and the dialogue is genuinely terrible, like toe-curlingly so. It, too, has the cheap feel of a Hallmark-esque film, well without that company's obligatory straightness, obvs. However, there's no doubting they make it work. I haven't got anything more to add, doing so would just be listing further reasons why this should suck but, evidently, doesn't. Pardon (the turkey?...) the pun btw. 🤪
2024-06-08

B

Brent_Marchant
There are three things necessary to make a gay romantic comedy work: It needs to involve a readily recognizable gay relationship, it needs an undeniable sense of romance and it has to be funny. However, this heavily diluted, glacially paced piece of insipid celluloid fluff has none of the above, and it truly escapes me how many critics and viewers have found this utterly bland exercise to be heartwarming, charming and involving. In telling the somewhat far-fetched story of an alleged romance between a British prince and the son of an American president who start out as comically exaggerated adversaries but end up supposedly finding true love with one another, writer-director Matthew López subjects his audiences to an unconvincing relationship wholly lacking in chemistry and stemming from an improbable courtship, much of which arises from a string of all-too-convenient, less-than-discreet engagements that are otherwise supposedly impossible to arrange and coordinate. What’s more, the film’s humor is virtually nonexistent and incorporates none of the edginess generally associated with gay comedies. In fact, it’s so dull and so safe that it makes most Hallmark Channel movies seem downright risqué by comparison. To its credit, the picture makes some modestly eloquent statements about LGBTQ+ equality (even if they’re nothing we haven’t already heard many times before), and it features a fine supporting performance by Sarah Shahi as a smart-mouthed, fast-talking presidential aide (arguably the only genuinely funny element in the film), but it misses the mark on so many other fronts that it’s hard to believe this project ever got green-lighted. It’s a shame that the door opened by “Bros” (2022) to make gay romcoms a more viable cinematic genre has been set back by this underwhelming effort. It’s also equally disappointing that an organization like Amazon Studios – one known for generally doing solid work – could let something as sub-par as this out into the movie marketplace. Let’s hope moviegoers can put this one quickly behind them and see the foregoing issues soon fixed going forward.
2023-08-20

G

Geronimo1967
Right, I am not the demographic and I ought to have hated this. Not least because it starts off with one of my lazy cinema writing bête noires - the "King of England". There is no such title or person! Anyway, pretty swiftly we find ourselves watching an overly contrived cake incident that must have trashed the expensive shag pile at Buckingham Palace. The visiting son of the US President - "Alex" (Taylor Zakhar Perez) gets involved in an altercation with Prince “Henry”, the grandson of the King. A week later he is despatched by his mother (Uma Thurman) on a diplomatic rescue mission ahead of her looming re-election battle and negotiations for a trade deal. What now ensues is way better than I was expecting. It's a simple enough bromance/rom-com but it uses adult language and some decent writing to illustrate a courtship that benefits from two actors who actually appear to gel on screen. It does no harm that Perez is very easy on the eye and is quite charismatic - though, surely just a bit too old for school - and both men offer an assured and confident performance that avoids the worst of the sentimental pitfalls - even if we do still get a polo match. As it builds I rather surprisingly found myself engaged with the story. Sure, it's light and fluffy, but somehow it's very normalisation of a gay relationship between two of the world's (theoretical) A-listers is actually quite warm and funny. The budget must have gone on private jets, luxury hotel suites and a couple of his and his powder blue hoodies - and that left the poor newsreader to do an entire Presidential election campaign wearing the same top! Perhaps it is meant to be some sort of play on the search for purpose by a real Prince, but that doesn't matter. Don't look for depth or realism (it has none) but if you are looking for something just a bit quirkier and entertaining then read the tin first, then you might get a surprise. I did. (PS: Anyone else think the Parisian café scene is a re-shoot?)
2023-08-14

Recommendations

The Café at the Edge of the World
0

The Café at the Edge of the World

Stressed ad executive John takes a break at a remote cafe, finding existential questions on the menu

Kyökin puolella
4.3

Kyökin puolella

1940-08-31

A romantic story about a rich girl, who is not used to household work, charms many men while working

Birds Without Names
3.1

Birds Without Names

2017-10-28

An unstable young woman pines for the ex-boyfriend who nearly beat her to death – and who has myster

Foam Party!
2

Foam Party!

2017-06-02

A message circulates from mobile phone to mobile phone. A bunch of strangers meet in a mansion. They

Doctor Zhivago
3.8

Doctor Zhivago

1965-12-22

The life of a Russian physician and poet who, although married to another, falls in love with a poli

Card Zero
2.1

Card Zero

2023-03-09

Before disappearing in the Mojave Desert, Robbie Zagorac captured love, life and heartbreak in a vid

Closely Watched Trains
3.6

Closely Watched Trains

1966-11-18

At a village railway station in occupied Czechoslovakia, a bumbling dispatcher’s apprentice longs to

Cruel Intentions
3.4

Cruel Intentions

1999-03-05

Slaking a thirst for dangerous games, Kathryn challenges her stepbrother, Sebastian, to deflower the

Lolita
3.6

Lolita

1962-06-13

Humbert Humbert is a middle-aged British novelist who is both appalled by and attracted to the vulga

Shrek
3.9

Shrek

2001-05-18

It ain't easy bein' green -- especially if you're a likable (albeit smelly) ogre named Shrek. On a m

The Canterville Ghost
3.4

The Canterville Ghost

2023-09-22

An American family moves in to the Canterville Chase, a London mansion that has been haunted by ghos

Christmas Karma
2.8

Christmas Karma

2025-11-14

In contemporary London, miserly British-Indian businessman Eshan Sood is compelled by three ghosts t

Zelňačka
0.5

Zelňačka

1996-03-13

Czech TV adaptation of the french novel "La Soupe aux choux", previously adapted for the cinema in F

Sweet Curse
3.3

Sweet Curse

2021-07-01

Ha-jun always engross his friends love with his good looks. Min-woo, a close friend who is jealous o

In Love Again
0.5

In Love Again

1969-01-01

AMG auteur Richard Fontaine started making short, silent posing-pouch snapshot films in the mid-1950

Zapata's Gang
3

Zapata's Gang

1914-02-27

Comedy about a film crew shooting a movie about guns and robbers, when real robbers turn up. Having

D.Asian
0

D.Asian

2015-03-14

4th grade is all about fitting in. For ten-year-old Daniel, that means owning the latest in Hello Ki

Love Again
1.3

Love Again

2023-08-02

Yuuki Asakura, the CEO of a pharmaceutical company, is haunted by memories of a man he held close. H

Spoiled Identity
0

Spoiled Identity

2023-07-30

The bizarre adventure of siblings Ann and Ben who’ve been sent to Sensitivity Training Boot Camp, w

Love Bites
0

Love Bites

2025-02-08

Just out of their teens, young men Liam and Anatole were in the throes of an exciting relationship-