A Not So Royal Christmas

Here we have there reverse of the typical falling in love with royalty story. Here our heroine falls in love with royalty, but he's only pretend royalty ... pressed into service on the spur of the moment to attract tourism to a small European city where a Count is supposed to live. The real "Count" abdicated for love with a beach babe he met in Daytona.

Will Kemp is charming as the ne'er do well whom a journalist mistakenly takes for the missing Count in her mission to get a tabloid story about him. Brooke D'Orsay is the journalist who falls for the Count.

There isn't nearly as much real relationship building and personality as I'd like to see, but the different sort of plot carries the movie, and we enjoyed it. Not one we'd schedule for repeat showings, I don't think, but it worked for one evening.

I always look forward to a Hallmark movie with Will Kemp, but I must say this one was disappointing. I think Will Kemp was great, but there is absolutely NO chemistry between him and Brooke D'Orsay (who I must admit is not one of my favorite Hallmark actresses although I have nothing against her). The story has nothing romantic to it, I don't get why Charlotte and Adam would actually fall in love. It makes no sense, they're just lying to each other all the time, they want different things and are not above using each other to get it. And yet I actually found the story very flat : no great romantic moment, no great enmity eather. I so wanted to like this movie !

Brooke D'Orsay has been one of my favorites for a while now. I think part of the reason was her innocent appearance and characters that fit that innocence. Well not this Charlotte.

I do not like royal stories. I also do not like stories that involve one or both characters having a lie. I can usually tolerate a lie of omission where one character doesn't own a famous identity. This story is the opposite. One character falsely owns the identity of a Count. Another character owns the identity of a respected journalist. Both chose to maintain deception. So my rating reflects that. Hopefully my observations are objective.

The acting is good. D'Orsay and Will Kemp are veterans of this type of movie. They have good chemistry. They reflect the discomfort of their lies and a growing desire to be honest. The dialogue is also good as is the rest of the script. There are some interesting and sometimes funny situations.

Once all the pieces are in place, the story is predictable. Some will say there is a twist at the end, but I saw it coming for a while.

I think many viewers who do not have my discomfort over the deception in the story will find the movie enjoyable.

This was definitely one of Hallmarks worst holiday films this festive season. I wanted to like it because royal element does ad nicely to the Christmas season, but the plot was just so ridiculous and implausible even for Hallmark standards. Also the supporting cast and the choice of supporting actors was not very natural and realistic. The fling between the leads was also rushed and lacked in chemistry.

Basically the only thing that kept that film from fully falling apart is always wonderful Will Kemp. He is always magnificent, whether he stars in big movies, expensive shows or just cheap little flicks like this one and it shows. When he is on screen he simply has that special radiance and in this one he added such a lovely comical thread to his character with lovely comedic timing. He is one of those actors that know what expression to put on in every scene even when he is not in the focus of the camera.

He and Julian Morris and Luke MacFarlane do deserve better films at Hallmark. The movie also had lovely costumes, which is not always the case at Hallmark. Would I watch it ever again, no. Would I not watch it if I knew it was this bad, no I would not. Did I fall asleep a few times watching it, yes I did.

Brooke D'Orsay (Charlotte)'s green dress at the end was gorgeous and I thought she and Will Kemp (Adam) played off of each other very well.

Adam has returned home for a short term position as gardener at the home of the Count in the fake land of Sorhagen, Nordin. There he is mistaken by the Royal gossip columnist Charlotte as the Count of Sorhagen. The Royal advisers ask Adam to play along as the real count abdicated his title six months prior...and they haven't figured out what to do yet and are worried about how it will hurt the local economy. Charlotte also lies claiming to be from a more legitimate publication instead of her gossip rag in order to secure an exclusive interview with the very reclusive count.

Will both their lies come out? And will their burgeoning feelings hold up to the truth?

I love Will Kemp and thought he was great. Both he and Brooke D'Orsay played well off of each other. My only real complaint is that there are so many real places, with real royalty...it is a shame that they are still using fake kingdoms and customs when the real ones are infinitely interesting. I liked it, but I think I would place it on a mid tier of the Hallmark Holiday films, a watch and delete.