Royal Matchmaker started out a promising, tried-but-true premise that brought in fresh faces and, as always, beautiful views, but failed to finish as strong as it started.
As a fan of Bethany Joy Lenz, I was excited to see her work here in a Hallmark film. I found her delightful and engaging (although I did pity her for the horrendous heels she was forced to wear down cobblestone streets) as well as her costar Will Kemp, who was another newcomer to the Hallmark circuit but delivered his role as the bachelor prince well. Their relationship began tempestuously, as Prince Sabastian was unwilling to be matchmade by Kate, but quickly undergoes an unexplained change of heart and allows her to attempt to find him a partner; however, their frostiness to each other still takes a few scenes to dissolve. As a storytelling decision, this seems unwise, as it takes up precious time to rebuild their friendship that could be more valuably used (much preferred would have been the two characters experiencing an immediate spark upon meeting and finding it easy to connect), and by the time the half-point of the movie hits, a wild turning point arrives in which Kate's assistant gently accuses her of being in love with the Prince. Kate stutters and stumbles her way through the accusation, and soon comes to this realization herself--as an audience member, the suspension of disbelief had snapped, as these two had essentially no romantically charged moments up to this point. Their communication had remained strictly professional, and their chemistry had not blossomed as they went along--if anything, they had established a friendly rapport, but nothing else. Suddenly plagued by jealousy, Kate's behavior takes a very immediate turn.
This was amped up even further for the ending of the movie, when Sabastian decides to propose to Kate upon seeing her arrive at the ball (she had just been fetched from the train station by the King, who up until now, had made his intentions and opinion of Kate completely unclear and whether or not he supported the relationship between her and his son!). They kiss (one of the only times they've ever touched in this movie) and the movie ends approximately thirty seconds later. I would have been perfectly content without the movie ending on a grand proposal, which quite frankly, seemed much too rushed.
There were also a few other spots in the movie where I felt logic had abandoned the plot. For instance, the community center has a broken heater, and Kate brings the Prince in to potentially fix the situation. Over the course of a few days, he fixes the radiator, but admits that he's not sure for how long it'll hold, never mind that his family could easily pay the fee for a new heater and his father, the King, would most likely encourage this positive press. Or another instance: what on earth was the timeline of this movie? At the beginning, it's made clear that Kate has four weeks to find the Prince a match, but very quickly, the three matches she finds for him are dismissed and the King tells her there are only "mere days" left until the Jubilee Ball he wants his son to attend with a partner. Has she spent at least three weeks at the castle thus far? It had been grossly unclear.
Overall, however, the movie was sweet and enjoyable, and its flaws did not detract too greatly from its positives. The castle the movie was shot at was gorgeous, and in general, these royalty romances are popular for a reason: they are the true "escapist" fairytale movies for any romance lovers out there.
And on one last note: could Hallmark please find their leading ladies dresses that don't look like clearance items from the junior prom section when grand balls are involved?
As a fan of Bethany Joy Lenz, I was excited to see her work here in a Hallmark film. I found her delightful and engaging (although I did pity her for the horrendous heels she was forced to wear down cobblestone streets) as well as her costar Will Kemp, who was another newcomer to the Hallmark circuit but delivered his role as the bachelor prince well. Their relationship began tempestuously, as Prince Sabastian was unwilling to be matchmade by Kate, but quickly undergoes an unexplained change of heart and allows her to attempt to find him a partner; however, their frostiness to each other still takes a few scenes to dissolve. As a storytelling decision, this seems unwise, as it takes up precious time to rebuild their friendship that could be more valuably used (much preferred would have been the two characters experiencing an immediate spark upon meeting and finding it easy to connect), and by the time the half-point of the movie hits, a wild turning point arrives in which Kate's assistant gently accuses her of being in love with the Prince. Kate stutters and stumbles her way through the accusation, and soon comes to this realization herself--as an audience member, the suspension of disbelief had snapped, as these two had essentially no romantically charged moments up to this point. Their communication had remained strictly professional, and their chemistry had not blossomed as they went along--if anything, they had established a friendly rapport, but nothing else. Suddenly plagued by jealousy, Kate's behavior takes a very immediate turn.
This was amped up even further for the ending of the movie, when Sabastian decides to propose to Kate upon seeing her arrive at the ball (she had just been fetched from the train station by the King, who up until now, had made his intentions and opinion of Kate completely unclear and whether or not he supported the relationship between her and his son!). They kiss (one of the only times they've ever touched in this movie) and the movie ends approximately thirty seconds later. I would have been perfectly content without the movie ending on a grand proposal, which quite frankly, seemed much too rushed.
There were also a few other spots in the movie where I felt logic had abandoned the plot. For instance, the community center has a broken heater, and Kate brings the Prince in to potentially fix the situation. Over the course of a few days, he fixes the radiator, but admits that he's not sure for how long it'll hold, never mind that his family could easily pay the fee for a new heater and his father, the King, would most likely encourage this positive press. Or another instance: what on earth was the timeline of this movie? At the beginning, it's made clear that Kate has four weeks to find the Prince a match, but very quickly, the three matches she finds for him are dismissed and the King tells her there are only "mere days" left until the Jubilee Ball he wants his son to attend with a partner. Has she spent at least three weeks at the castle thus far? It had been grossly unclear.
Overall, however, the movie was sweet and enjoyable, and its flaws did not detract too greatly from its positives. The castle the movie was shot at was gorgeous, and in general, these royalty romances are popular for a reason: they are the true "escapist" fairytale movies for any romance lovers out there.
And on one last note: could Hallmark please find their leading ladies dresses that don't look like clearance items from the junior prom section when grand balls are involved?