dir. Matthew López
Red, White & Royal Blue is based on the successful 2019 YA novel of the same name. The film makes liberal use of familiar YA romance tropes, from “opposites attract” to a fascination with royalty, and with all the typical one-note supporting characters. As with every single other tale in this vein, the attraction between our leads is painfully forced: carefree Alex, son of the POTUS, has next-to-nothing in common with uptight Prince Henry, with their rapport largely developed through montages of them giggling at each other’s texts. Many of the laughs are cheap (“Oh no, they have cake all over them!”), and the dialogue is pretty stilted at times. This all being said, it’s refreshing (and still sadly rare) to see this standard formula applied to an LGBT story. Plus, some of the performances are genuinely engaging – with a notable exception in Uma Thurman and her bafflingly bad Texan accent as the POTUS. All in all, Red, White & Royal Blue isn’t so bad, though that doesn’t mean it’s so good, either. Through all the standard fare, at least it’s trying to do something a little different.
BMDb 