A Christmas Prince

Even Netflix is getting into it now. iZombie’s Rose McIver ditches the undead look to star as a reporter who goes undercover as a princess’ tutor to get the scoop on her big brother, a young jet setter who may be choosing to abdicate his inherited throne. Because this is Netflix, the film hit the radar of many not familiar with Christmas Cheddar and had no idea what to expect. Several articles reporting on Netflix's tweets to the 53 people who inexplicably watched this movie every day since it dropped, referred to it as trash, and Buzzfeed called it the worst Christmas movie of all time. Is it really that bad? No. In fact it's exactly the same as a typical Hallmark movie; literally the only difference is there's no Hallmark logo in the lower right of the screen. Actually, it's obvious from the very beginning when we're inundated with B-rolls of NYC to hide the fact that it was filmed in Canada somewhere. Wolmen's Skating rink? We've got that B-roll. New York Public Library? We've got that B-roll. Empire State Building? Radio City Music Hall? Rockefeller Center? We've got that B-roll. Does the actual outside set look anything like New York City? Of course not. Keep watching and it's exactly the same as a number of specific American vs royalty sub-genre films all over cable in December: free-spirited American finds her way into the royal home of a fictional country which is not Great Britain but everyone sounds British, causes havoc, draws the ire of the elders, then bonds with the child, charms the pants off everyone and before you know it, they can't live without her and the age appropriate male has fallen head over heals. Don't forget her arrival at the climactic ball in an elegant dress to make the snob's jaws drop. Cliched and predictable, but no more so than anything else in the Countdown to Christmas cannon, which should be a surprise to no one. What the fuck was Buzzfeed expecting, a Christmas episode of The Crown? Stranger Christmas Things? A Very Mindhunter Christmas? Oye. Meanwhile, as much as McIver's chalk white make up and platinum blonde wig from iZombie appeals to my inner goth, it is nice to see her au natural, even if it is without her sexy New Zealand accent. Speaking of, the film features two of the worst faked American accents I've ever heard; her father sounds like Brooklyn native in a production of Oliver Twist, and her boss' is so bad it's worth watching for that train wreck alone (just watch the first ten minutes and skip to the last ten, the scene at the end is especially bad). Is it a good movie? Of course not, this is not artistic cinema. But this is exactly the movie Netflix for some reason wanted to make. Is it good as far as Christmas Cheddar goes? Unfortunately not. While McIver is a delight and the cast is strong (the two accents excepted), it's just a December rom-com in which Christmas is an afterthought. Not MSG approved. Nice try though, Netflix.