As a firm believer in the admittedly cliché statement “the book was better,” my expectations were not exceptionally high when I sat down to watch the film adaptation of the novel Red, White, and Royal Blue.
I was still over the moon with enthusiasm, of course, but the high probability of the movie’s failure dampened my excitement.
As it turned out, my low expectations were not necessary in the slightest. In fact, they could have been five times higher, and they still would have been exceeded.
The movie is a romantic comedy directed by Matthew Lopez based on the book by Casey McQuiston. The premise is slightly far-fetched, but then again, all of the best romance books are.
In the film, Alex Claremont-Diaz (Taylor Zakhar Perez) is the son of the president of the United States and has somewhat of a one-sided rivalry with Prince Henry of England (Nicholas Galitzine). When the first family travels to the royal palace for Henry’s older brother’s wedding, disaster strikes in the form of an upset Alex and a $75,000 wedding cake.
To save both the royal and first family from scandal, Henry and Alex are forced to pretend that they’ve been best friends for years and that the cake incident was purely accidental. As they begin to spend more and more time together, pretending to be best friends, Alex realizes that he might not hate Henry after all.
My main complaint with the movie is the few spots where it differed from the book. Of course, no movie can contain every detail that a book has, but the film adaptation of Red, White, and Royal Blue cut out some significant things that were major plot points in the original story.
Cheesy jokes and romantic clichés would usually have been annoying, but for some reason, they all fit perfectly in this movie.
Along with other cuts and changes the movie made, the entire character of June, Alex’s sister, was missing. This was particularly tragic for me as June was one of my favorite characters and was part of some of my favorite relationships when I first read the book.
The movie was much more focused on the romantic aspects of the story, and while obviously, that is the main point, there was a whole other plotline in the novel that I missed getting to see in the film. This plotline was centered around politics, Alex’s dreams of being a politician, and how Alex and Henry’s relationship affected that.
The movie did make some pretty impactful changes to the story, but aside from those, everything else was nearly perfect.
The casting, first of all, was immaculate. Perez and Galitzine not only looked the exact way I imagined the characters while reading, but they also matched the personalities of their characters perfectly.
Some readers were worried about the casting when the movie was announced. They didn’t know if the actors would have enough or the right chemistry to emulate their characters. But, as it turns out, there was no need to worry.
From witty one-liners to romantic dates to heart-wrenching arguments in the rain, Perez and Galitzine had me squealing, giggling, and crying an embarrassing amount.
The acting was enthralling. For most of the movie, it had the energy of a well-made Hallmark movie. Cheesy jokes and romantic clichés would usually have been annoying, but for some reason, they all fit perfectly in this movie. I was never annoyed by the acting, and I felt that every actor flawlessly portrayed their characters.
There were some scenes, however, where the acting did not feel like a Hallmark movie at all. Multiple times, especially towards the end of the movie when the plot got heavier and more intense, I found myself staring in awe at my TV with tears running down my face.
I am endlessly impressed by this movie, and if you asked any of my friends, you would find out that I haven’t shut up about it since the first time I watched it.
It’s nearly impossible for me to choose a favorite book, but Red, White, and Royal Blue is definitely one of my top picks, and although I still stand by my original claim that the book was better, the three times I’ve rewatched the movie are starting to balance out my love for both versions.
