Le Noël royal de Bella

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.

... of course, it's mandatory for Canadian and American productions to not do any homework, making anything 'foreign' not even remotely correct or authentic. I think it's so ridiculous and insulting for the many thousands of British actors that Canadians were used to portray all Brits. Accents weren't terrible but still cringe. I know it's just a fun film, not a serious portrayal of a royal's life, but almost nothing about etiquette and how things go is anywhere near reality (including royal estates not being decorated in tacky plastic, even when in tacky America). Also, a duke isn't necessarily royal. Possible, though. Also, "You have Christmas trees growing on your property?!" is my new silliest line in a film. They're not called Christmas trees. They're pines or firs of whichever takes your fancy, but they only become Christmas trees when decorated in your home. And of course, my pet peeve with basically all American and surprisingly also Canadian Christmas films: we are able to operate on babies in utero these days, but somehow making artificial snow look real is impossible for these production companies.

Luckily, it does have some heart and even though it's of course predictable, it's also a fun angle.

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.

This movie exemplifies why I don't like Royal movies. There are too many of them. Once in a while one catches the Cinderella feeling and does it well. This wasn't it. Oh, Danica McKellar tried and she tried too hard. What she ended up with was a juvenile crush and juvenile behavior. "How about a selfie?" And I really didn't feel like she grew up as the movie progressed.

The premise was a tad weak to begin with. It made sense for Stefen to look for replacement clothes but then he basically asked her to tag along with him for a week. He doesn't want publicity, especially negative and double especially not about his love life. Hanging around with a fairly attractive woman at every event he went to for a week is going to get just that kind of publicity. But nobody seemed to notice. That made no sense. And he asked her to hang around even when she wasn't being a plus one at an event. It was not like she was really helping with anything, except filling a romantic hole in Stefen's life.

I couldn't figure out Connie. The words that came out of her mouth seemed to encourage Bella, but the look on her face didn't always match that.