When you hear of a romance between British royalty and the first son of the United States, you might think of Downton Abbey to the power of infinity with some Air Force One and Independence Day thrown in for good measure. Red White & Royal Blue, playwright Matthew Lopez’ (The Inheritance) directorial debut based on Casey McQuiston’s eponymous book, does have a whiff of Julian Fellowes’ gorgeous period drama but is also its own cheerful, frothy beast.
Red White & Royal Blue (English)
Director: Matthew Lopez
Cast: Taylor Zakhar Perez, Nicholas Galitzine, Uma Thurman, Stephen Fry, Sarah Shahi, Ellie Bamber
Runtime: 118 minutes
Storyline: Two long-time rivals have to pretend to be friends to avoid bad publicity, only to have the pretence turns real when the two develop feelings for each other
The movie opens with the wedding of the crown prince of England, Philip (Thomas Flynn). Alex (Taylor Zakhar Perez), the son of US President Ellen Claremont (Uma Thurman), is representing his mum at the royal wedding to bolster US-British ties at a crucial time for Claremont as she is mounting her reelection campaign.
Things go dramatically wrong as Alex and Prince Philip’s younger brother, Henry (Nicholas Galitzine), have a very public shoving match which ends with the towering, creamy wedding cake falling on the two young men. The tabloids and social media go berserk, with one newspaper headline screaming “The buttercream summit”.
It is time for damage control and Alex is sent back to London to play nice with Henry. Though in the beginning, the two young men are only pretending to like each other, they realise that their sniping and rivalry might be hiding deeper feelings.
All the rom-com staples are present and correct, from the fight to the make-up, the parents reveal, the tears, laughter, hot and heavy messages, the feeling of being torn between desire and duty, tradition and following one’s heart, with a reelection and a sneaky journalist thrown in the mix. Nothing, however, feels stale or having been done to death.
There is a freshness and charm about Red White & Royal Blue that is so infectious that you cannot help grinning. Perez and Galitzine are easy on the eye and bring a likeable, lived-in vibe to their obviously fairytale characters. Thurman kills it in that red gown and her Texan drawl is to die for. Stephen Fry is all stiff upper lip, with a spot of quiver as the stern British monarch, King James III.
Sex/Life’s Sarah Shahi is rather odd as Zahra Bankston, a member of Claremont’s staff. She tosses her hair this way and that to prove how concerned she is about the goings on. Ellie Bamber plays Princess Beatrice, Henry’s supportive sister while Clifton Collins Jr. is Oscar Diaz, Alex’s dad, who is as clever as he is compassionate.
With all the grim things happening around the world today, it is not such a wicked thing to indulge in this fairytale concoction, a sweet little love story, which just might resuscitate rom-coms.
Red White & Royal Blue streams on Amazon Prime Video from August 11
