This is Hallmark's second 'Royal' Christmas movie this season (the first being One Royal Holiday, which is arguably a better film). I have mixed feelings about this one: on the one hand, the plot is very generic (except for the carousel element) and the script is quite ordinary; on the other hand, the acting was very good overall. That said, in the end, I thought it was a decent movie, but not one of Hallmark's best, I'm afraid. I did think it was great getting a glimpse at the craftsmanship and artwork that goes into making and upkeeping a carousel. I had never really thought about it before, but it seems to be a very artistic endeavor. A pity we did not spend more time watching Thomas Carousel Restoration (which was the name of their business in the film) at work. The story here centers around Lila (played by Rachel Boston), who works for her father Roy (played by Stuart Hughes) at the family carousel restoration business, though, recently, she has been thinking about following her own path (career-wise, that is). They are hired by the Royal Family of Ancadia to restore an old carousel that Lila's great-grandfather built some 100 years earlier. Upon their arrival, they meet Whitaker (aka the Prince, played by Neal Bledsoe, our other protagonist in this story) who has taken an interest in the restoration. And so, our journey begins as Lila and the Prince team up, and we watch their relationship grow and blossom into romance in the snow-covered mountains of the Kingdom of Ancadia. The movie draws a little on a very popular plot device this Christmas season: i.e., deception and mistaken identity. I thought this worked well. Indeed, the first 20 minutes or so of the film were great, I thought. There were some nice scenes where we got a look at the craftsmanship I mentioned above, and there were some nice banter and interactions between our two protagonists. However, once we got to the palace of the royal family, the story started to become less appealing, I thought. The sub-plot around the father and son relationship (the King and Prince) was unexceptional: we have seen many movies where the Prince is not living up to the royal standards. There were some good dialogue and scenes between the Prince and Lila. However, the chemistry between the two never really developed on screen, which is a problem in a romance film. Boston had a pretty good performance; she usually does well (as a Hallmark regular) in this genre of film. Bledsoe too had a decent performance (his accent did not bother me, as it seems to have been for some of the reviewers on here). As another reviewer observed, he had a bit of a Hugh Grant vibe to his performance, which I, for the most part, enjoyed. The problem was, there was no real chemistry between the two. At least, I did not see it or feel it on screen. The supporting cast was strong, some solid performances, I thought. What was up with Roy's little boy haircut? It was a bit distracting at first. Finally, the film did have a very nice Christmas feel to it. There were some beautiful scenic shots of the castle and mountains. The scenery, props, and sets were elegant and quite festive (such cozy royal stables). All in all, it is a decent Christmas movie. If you enjoy Royal themed Hallmark (or Hallmark like) movies, then I suspect you will enjoy this one too.
