Un Prince pour Olivia

I really liked this movie! Typical? Yes! But who cares? That's not why I'm watching it! The location was breathtaking! I love Rhiannon Fish! She was fantastic as always! Newcomer to the romcom scene, Mitchell Bourke, was awesome! Supporting cast? Fabulous! The queen was a tad over the top with her speech - to an uncomfortable level, in my opinion. (Not the actress, just the writing). I want a movie to whisk me away and dream a little..this one did just that! I will rewatch it again and again. It was sweet, I loved the friendships showcased and I loved the slight changes to the norm on some of the typical romcom stuff!

Every once in a while, a film comes along that looks like it will be a formulaic love story. One watches it for the soothing rewards of knowing the girl will get the guy, the guy wilt get the girl, and it will all end happily..And then, once in a while, this formula comes along with some really appealing leads, an intelligent story, and a bit more to offer than the conventional script. This movie was one of those.

It was filmed in a beautiful setting, using ample time to show the colorful, charming tropical location. There were underwater scenes, stunning fish and sea life shown, and in all, it was a visually gratifying movie.

The love story was mature, each of the leading characters had his and her own issues to deal with . Of course, the prince needed to take the throne. And, of course, he was expected to marry someone of royal lineage. Surely, the young woman author had a deadline and writer's block, and needed to find a new location to inspire her creative work. But there was more to this formula than one would expect. Serious life issues were shared and discussed by the young couple. Failures and disappointments were talked about. One knows in watching a movie of this sort that the ending will be a happy one. Everything will turn out alright. But this film explored the roadblocks and impediments along the way in a more mature and realistic way.

If one can make a few comments about some shortcomings, here they are. While the female lead wore some stunniing clothes, it seemed gratuitous that there was so much cleavage shown. It was almost as if everything she wore was cut too low and her cleavage was far too exposed. The same is true for her best friend, roommate. There was barely one scene that did not have that very distracting and unnecessary aspect to it. What was the purpose of this sort of exposure? It distracted from the story, from the sensitive relationship and how it was resolved. There was an almost Playboy centerfold aspect to the need to show so much cleavage. Was there a reason behind this? It's hard to imagine what that reason would be. Other than that one distraction, this is a mature, lovely story.

This is not a Hallmark movie but it closely follows the typical Hallmark story arc. Two single people meet and are attracted to each other, something comes between them, later they overcome it and during the last minute they have their first kiss.

Cute and authentic Rhiannon Fish (about 30) plays romance novelist Olivia. Based in Manhattan, she is riding the wave of popularity of her latest book but seems stuck, full-on writer's block. She buys tickets for her and her fiance' to travel to a tropical island but at the same time he has started to break up with her. So her good friends convinces her the two of them should go together instead, Olivia can use the trip as an inspiration for her writing.

At the same time Alexander, a prince from a small (fictitious) country, is reading her novel. They meet accidentally, then later they both end up at the same tropical island, she on vacation and he on a charity trip to help raise money for conservation. They meet again, they hit it off, but Alexander's mother, the Queen, has other plans and tries to sabotage the relationship.

The movie plays better than a brief description can explain, it is interesting and entertaining all the way through. A good effort for this type of movie, a fluff piece with beautiful people and great scenery.

My wife and I watched it on FreeVee, streaming on Prime.

8.0 stars.

My review will be influenced primarily by a woman surnamed Fish. I love everything she does, she has the Midas touch. I've yet to watch any performance by her that leaves me cold or disappointed. Once again, we have a title debacle. What is the real title of this film? Who cares, I'm not going to make a big deal of it.

The writing is straight out of Hallmark's playbook. This might as well be a Hallmark. Heck, it probably is, but maybe they decided to give another channel a go at the whole royal-meets-commoner trope. Bad move guys, because this is one of the better royal romances of the dozens I've seen. I'd say this places i my top five thus far. I won't bore you with the plot, but just lay out the basic blueprint of this royal installment vs all others, and see where it lands in the grand scheme of royalty.

First: instead of the usual setting of a big city in America (even though it begins there), we end up on an island paradise. Is this in the Caribbean, is this a real island? I never researched it. But it looks like something south of, or near the equator.

Second: the prince opts to hide his identity from the commoner.

Third: the commoner is a successful writer, dating guru, or owner of a thriving business.

Fourth: the royal has an "evil" king or queen who is barking orders and having someone spy on them to be sure they aren't galavanting with an uncivilized American.

Fifth: the royal's assistant is part of the plot and ends up escorting, or dating the American love interest's best friend. And there is someone named Winston, whether an assistant, a butler, or bodyguard.

Sixth: the king or queen is also dating a lower level citizen in secret.

Seventh: when the identity of the royal is revealed, the other person gets very angry and breaks off the friendship because they were "misled" or "lied to", and they exclaim in great disappointment: "I trusted you". What was very refreshing in this particular instance, she is pragmatic and understands the situation and the pressures, and holds no grudge for his deceit.

Eighth: the king or queen persuades the commoner to break up with the royal, because the relationship would cheat said royal out of his/her rightful lot in life.

They could have mixed this up a bit, instead of him learning her identity as a famous author, keep that little secret from him for another 20 minutes, so both of them are masquerading. That would have been very interesting, maybe she finds out he's a prince and he discovers she's an author and they both keep it a secret, pretending all the while that they are still in the dark. Maybe incorporate quips, and comments, and puns and then the reveal and we all have a blast. They both knew that they knew, it could be funny for a moment.

I was a little skeptical at first, but the movie was really good. It was predictable, but funny and entertaining. Rhiannon Fish did a wonderful job in the movie. She was sad, funny, and her face expressions were wonderful. Probably the best thing I've seen her in. She's quickly becoming one of my favorite actresses.

Naomi Sequeira was beautiful and charming as ever. Mitchell Bourke was great as the prince. The rest of the cast did a great job.

The scenery was incredible. I've been to this part of Australia and they did it proud in the movie.

Overall fun, wholesome, great views and would see it again.