As expected, this movie received a lot of bashing and ridicule in the UK because it is an American made biopic about the Royal Family. After watching it out of curiosity, I felt like writing a review because it really wasn't that bad. Based very loosely on the events that led up to the engagement of Willam and Kate, the film suffers slightly by showing a pretty unremarkable series of events that culminate in the blossoming of a romance. The film makers must have been frustrated by the fact that nothing really newsworthy has happened in this story so far...maybe they should have waited a bit longer! The fun for me of course was spotting how much of this looks nothing like it was made in the UK. Stock footage of Big Ben and red buses is interspersed with the cast being shown in wide city avenues that look nothing like London, and buildings that look little like the architecture we have here. The actors sport British accents which hold up fairly well, but occasionally slip, but for the most part the cast manages OK. The two central leads perform pretty well.
The movie is filmed in a glossy style that resembles an episode of "Gossip Girl", ie lots of swanking about in streets and colleges, and scenes set in exotic nightclubs and restaurants. It doesn't always convince, some of the special effects show that a lot of CGI backgrounds have been added outside of windows (and very obviously in that final "African sunset" scene!). But I suspect the film was made in a hurry, so for this reason, most of it looks pretty good. It just doesn't look much like England! But I do think the amount of scorn dished out here in the UK is unfair. Just because another country tries to make a semi-fictional representation of events that go on here does not give us the right to ridicule every part of it that they get wrong. And I'll admit that in the above paragraph, I have had some fun in doing just that. But I am not condemning the whole film as a failure just because it was made in another country and because I can spot geographical errors.
Whats interesting (and has possibly upset some UK viewers) is the use of sensitive facts for dramatic purposes. At one point William turns to his father (Prince Charles) and angrily barks "Did you ever really love my mother? If you loved Camilla, why didn't you just marry her?" It's juicy fodder for drama, and harmless in this context, but likely to make a few viewers prickle a bit.
So, I've had a bit of a laugh, but I didn't think it was that ridiculous. The film will probably disappear after the fuss of the wedding is over, but I am sure it entertained a lot of US viewers who enjoy all things royal. The main fault is that nothing really interesting has happened in this story so far, therefore there is very little plot! Put simply, and it would probably be almost impossible for one nation to make a realistic film about events set in another country, without that country being able to find fault with it.
