‘Red, White and Royal Blue’ is a cute rom-com with an awful Uma Thurman

“Crimson, White & Royal Blue” is an enthralling LGBTQ romantic comedy — if you may get previous a career-worst efficiency from Uma Thurman.

Based mostly on a preferred novel (TikTok movies on the subject have over 500 million views), the Prime Video film is directed by Matthew Lopez and produced by Greg Berlanti. 

The story follows Alex Claremont-Diaz (Taylor Zakhar Perez), a bisexual regulation college pupil who’s the “first son” of the US, since his mother, Ellen Claremont (Uma Thurman), is the President. 

Alex by chance causes a world scandal with Prince Henry (Nicholas Galitzine) — a member of this story’s fictional British royal household– when the 2 males knock over a $75,000 cake at a royal wedding ceremony.

Following that catastrophe, Alex is compelled to fake that he and Henry are finest buds to mitigate the ensuing media disaster throughout his mother’s re-election bid. 

Quickly sufficient, sparks fly between Alex and Henry. However as a result of they’re each public figures — and Henry feels pressured to remain within the closet — they have to preserve their relationship secret.

This usually has comedic outcomes, corresponding to Henry hiding in Alex’s resort room wardrobe from the White Home Chief of Employees (a scene-stealing Sarah Shahi), who tells the Prince that she’s going to “Brexit your head out of your physique” if he doesn’t skedaddle again to England with out being noticed by anyone — including a bow and a, “Your highness” on the tip of her tirade.

Secret service agent Amy (Aneesh Sheth) can be an amusing and scene-stealing spotlight in a film that’s largely tired of its facet characters.

Alex and Henry talk by cellphone calls and textual content messages for a lot of the story, and “Crimson, White & Royal Blue” handles that in ingenious and visually interesting methods.

Relative unknowns Perez and Galitzine each shine.

Their winsome performances save “Crimson, White & Royal Blue” from its faults, like its shallow politics, which normally is smart for a rom-com however not one with such a agency political setting.  

The second half of the film additionally plods on too lengthy, and will get sappy. 

After which, there’s Uma Thurman. 

President Claremont is from Texas, and Thurman places on a dreadful regional accent. (That is Lopez’s directorial debut, so perhaps he wasn’t keen to inform a big-name star that her accent wasn’t working.)  

Thurman is miscast and the position would have been better-suited for Connie Britton, Reese Witherspoon or Sandra Bullock.

However even past that, President Claremont is an oddly written character: coldly formidable in some scenes, down-to-earth in others. As a substitute of giving the impression of her being multifaceted, this simply makes her characterization ping-pong round inconsistently.  

The royal household in “Crimson, White & Royal Blue” has some parallels to actuality — the true Prince Harry isn’t homosexual, however Prince Henry nonetheless appears like a fictionalized model of him: he’s the youthful “spare” son, and his older brother, with whom he has a strained relationship, scoffs at the concept Henry is tanking his status to pursue a “mad” romance with an American lover.

 However “Crimson, White & Royal Blue” additionally tweaks some issues in its fictional universe. As an example, Henry should reply to his grandfather, the King (performed by a largely wasted Stephen Fry), as a substitute of the true Prince Harry answering to his grandmother, the Queen (earlier than her demise). 

Regardless of all this, lots of the film’s jokes are amusing, the connection is cute, and although Thurman nearly sinks the ship, Perez and Galitzine are adequate to drift it by means of uneven waters.

“Crimson, White & Royal Blue” has some large flaws, nevertheless it’s enjoyable and cute rom-com with coronary heart.