Red, White & Royal Blue (2023)

Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy
- 3 wins & 7 nominations total

Trivia
When Alex and Henry are on vacation reading together in the hammock, Alex is seen reading "One Last Stop," Casey McQuiston's second novel. Henry reads a book by Bernardine Evaristo.

Goofs
In the wedding scene, Alex enters and takes the whiskey glass from the bartender's hand stealing it from a guest, in the montage the next scene is the same but from a different perspective.

Quotes
Alex Claremont-Diaz: Okay, here's what we're gonna do.
Prince Henry: Yes, tell me.
Alex Claremont-Diaz: You're gonna stay at least five hundred feet away from me for the rest of the night.
Prince Henry: Sensible plan.
Alex Claremont-Diaz: I'm not done.
Prince Henry: Of course you're not.
Alex Claremont-Diaz: Then at midnight, you're gonna come to my room on the second floor of the residence where I'm going to do some very bad things to you.

Crazy credits
After the end credits, there's a small, comedic extension to the opening of Alex and Henry on the floor after the cake has collapsed on them, with Alex asking Henry if he thinks anyone noticed.

Connections
Features Some Like It Hot (1959)

Soundtracks
String Quartet No. 10 in E Flat Major, D. 87: IV. Allegro
Written by Franz Schubert
Performed by Melos Quartett
Courtesy of Deutsche Grammophon GmbH
Under licence from Universal Music Operations Ltd

A two-hour movie that should've been a 4-episode mini-series

Cramming the content of a novel into a two-hour movie means you're going to see characters eliminated and scenes combined, that's just a given. To say "the book was better" is a well-worn cliche, so I won't use it here, but having read the book first, I was saddled with expectations that were never met.

For a light, two-hour "Hallmark movie the week" style flick? Red, White & Royal Blue was fine. But the cost was having to eliminate most of the emotion, peril and building up to the big scenes that the book had. The pacing felt rushed, and it seemed like the director was trying to get to from one big moment from the book to the next, as quickly as possible before they ran out of time.

Casting-wise, the actors all pretty much looked exactly like how they were meticulously described in the book-with one glaring exception. In the book, Alex was much younger. Closer to 21. He was also noticeably shorter than Henry too, at around 5' 7" or 5' 8" (which is why his "He doesn't look 6' 2"!" line in the film seems to come out of nowhere). Nicholas Galitzine was a decade to old and far too tall for the part. Instead of seeing a young college student fall for a tall, handsome prince? We spent two hours watching two grown Abercrombie & Fitch models trying to "out hot" each other.

Overall the film was cute and worked fine, but it lacked most of the emotion and actual peril the book rewarded us with-and what a 3 to 5-episode mini-series could've delivered.