I have a bit of a confession to make. Before the novel Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston came out in 2019, I wasn’t much of a rom-com girl. Sure I’d seen movies like Notting Hill and My Best Friend’s Wedding, but any novels hinting at meet-cutes or friend-to-lovers would be passed over during a trip to Waterstones.
But as the Digital TV and Film Editor at HELLO!, this occasionally means writing about other parts of culture - and as a book lover, I always love writing literature recommendations for our readers. Checking out the new and upcoming titles way back in 2019, I stumbled across a synopsis for RW&RB and thought it sounded cheesy but fun - and very HELLO! friendly. A member of the royal family finds love with the President’s son? Sign me up.
Little did I know that my feature research would lead to an all-out adoration of Casey’s bestseller - and a new-found love for romance fiction. After reading all about Henry and Alex’s antics, I raved about it in a way that only someone who has never stumbled upon a romance trope could, recommended it to all of my friends, and insisted on interviewing the author so I could have some clarity on the future adventures of Alex and Henry. All in all, you could say I'm a fangirl.
Since then, romance fiction has become very important to me, with An Offer from a Gentleman, The Hating Game, The Unhoneymooners, The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue, If I Never Met You, All the Young Dudes (if you know, you know) and The Roadtrip being among my favourites. Long story short, I was fairly passionate about the RW&RB movie, which is set to be released on 11 August on Amazon Prime Video.
Having sensed this, probably because I emailed them about it every other week, Amazon Prime Video invited me for a showing back in May. I’ve been dying to write this review for months. In fact, here’s Taylor Zakhar Perez, who plays Alex, also seeing it at the same venue as me, but 24 hours earlier. Why couldn’t we have been in the room at the same time, you ask? So do I. Every day.
Anyway, back to the film. There have been some concerns with fans that Taylor and Nicholas Galitzine, who plays Henry, wouldn’t have the right rapport when the casting was first announced. I would like to reassure the people that this assumption is unequivocally not the case. The pair have wild chemistry from the second they appear on screen together, moments before a giant cake falls on top of them.
© Jonathan PrimeIt’s so refreshing to see when, like with Jonathan Bailey in Bridgerton, actors clearly take their roles of romantic heroes seriously - without a hint of irony, and sort of delight in it too. With Nicholas and Taylor’s portrayals, of course, there is plenty of banter and drama, but the intimate moments between the pair are the stuff of pure romance, and the two actors nail it. Step aside Keira Knightley and Matthew Mcfadyen.
In the opening moments, I did have a short-lived dread that the movie missed the book’s pure wit - which made it the BookTok bestselling sensation that it is. Plenty of movies have come and gone without being able to capture their original material’s personality and wit. Take Harry Potter. In the books, Ginny is a vivacious, confident woman who gives her brothers a run for their money. The movie adaptations had Ginny tie Harry's shoelace and feed him a mince pie! A mince pie! But I digress.
From the moment Henry and Alex actually meet each other, all worries melted away as the banter ramped up from both the main two leads into all-out undeniably excellent chemistry. The supporting cast also nails their roles - with Sarah Shahi being particularly hilarious as the long-suffering political aid, Zahra, who has to deal with the President’s wayward son.
Of course, the movie had to omit some major points of the novel, which has left some fans feeling a little put out. The biggest and most important is that Alex’s sister June got the chop, with the film instead making his closest confidante the Vice President’s daughter Nora. The screenplay also rewrites his parents so that they are still together - rather than in the novel where Alex's mother Ellen is remarried to Leo, while remaining close to his father, Oscar.
© Jonathan PrimeThis is likely due to timings, plus the fact that Henry also has a sister, Princess Beatrice, could mean that June's role would have felt repetitive - and I was willing to accept that changes had to be made to fit into a neat run-time, and have to say I had a better time accepting that the movie was the same, but different. If you’re watching while mourning the book’s more in-depth details - like how Alex’s relationship with his parents shaped him, or how Henry’s mother’s absence following the loss of his father left him struggling with his place in the royal family (his mother doesn’t appear in the movie at all), then you might come away disappointed.
© Jonathan PrimeBut what the film doesn’t get wrong, however, is the romance between Henry and Alex, and ultimately that’s what we’re all here for, isn’t it? The dialogue is as funny, sweet (and occasionally cheesy), as its original source. Their character development is so good that I found myself wishing I was watching a ten-part series instead, just so I could spend time with the couple as they snuck out of hotels and hooked up in polo match sheds and what have you.
In short, as a big fan of the book, I adored the new movie - and am more than ready for a sequel. Royal wedding, anyone?!
