A Royal Date for Christmas

We like Danica McKellar ... a lot. Unfortunately she isn't getting the better scripts in these Christmas movies, and this is a prime example. The story is unusually drab, and the only real relationship tension is close to the end and makes the "Duke" look cold-hearted , particularly because he's just "kissed the girl".

Our "Duke", the presumptuously named Damon Runyan, and the other supposedly English characters only suggest one thing ... that Canadian actors are abject failures to affect a British accent. I mean, these accents are painful to listen to. I'd rather have Dick Van Dyke's Cockney travesty. LOL

Oddly, nine years ago Runyan played a rodeo cowboy in A Starry Christmas, a far superior movie and a far superior acting job. He paired with fellow Canadian George Canyon (a country singer) as his brother. The end of that movie didn't make any more sense than the end of this one, either. LOL.

I guess Danica McKellar and her new employers at GAC Family are hoping that they can replicate the magic of 2015's Crown for Christmas, which was a big hit for Hallmark and perhaps the best example of a good Royal Christmas movie.

Unfortunately for all involved, 'A Royal Christmas Romance' doesn't come close. It ticks the boxes, goes through the numbers - working class girl falls in love with a royal who has family issues or similar - and ends after a tidy ninety minutes. McKellar does what she can with what is a fairly dull script as Bella, who runs a boutique that the Duke of Tangford visits when he needs some clothes urgently. Ditto Damon Runyan as the Duke of T.

I guess this isn't a bad film per se. I certainly didn't hate it...it's just a film without any real stand-out moments. And you can set your watch by each of the tropey developments.

Really terrible movie. The acting was awful. The Duke was especially insipid. There was no plot as such and no major conflict either. Little chemistry between the couple. The only good thing about the movie was the Christmas decorations in the back. Even though there was some stupid thing about not having trees at Tangford House, there were a bunch of trees around the place in the second half of the movie. But that's ok, I enjoyed the overly done festive decorations in an otherwise miserable looking place. Not a lot of characters to relate to or like even. Quite low budget. Im really disappointed by this movie and felt the need to write a review so others don't waste their time with this. Christmas movies should make a person feel good. This movie with its subpar dialogues and below average acting was painful to sit through.

No spark between the main characters. Probably impossible to have a spark with the range of emotion the duke showed. To be fair, with so much Botox in your face it might be quite impossible to have many facial expressions.

The capitalist, Christmas spirit was very touching: "You would be amazed how much joy a new shawl or accessory can bring!"

Like most hallmark movies very suitable to watch with a rom com cliche bingo card in hand. There were several moments that could've been executed better. The classic "fights"/"problems" were way too small, it was too smooth sailing. At a certain point I was even convinced we'd get a "not handsome enough to tempt me"-moment and then it passed without conflict.

There were also several plot holes. Most noteworthy was when the duke was walking a mile with a saw in hand and when they got to the felling place an axe was handed to him.

I would have enjoyed the movie A LOT more if the characters were actually dressed well. The colour pallet of the main character is horrible (red, blue, green) and it makes her being the stylist less credible. Also there wasn't a spark between the main characters but I finished the movie regardless.

It was the third romantic Christmas movie that I watched in a week but my least favourite because of the lack of spark between the characters.

You wouldn't miss a thing if you don't watch the movie but if you have time on your hands and love romantic christmas movies you can surely give it a shot!