History, huh? Bet we could make some.
About/Summary
Released in 2023 on Amazon Prime, this adaptation of the popular novel follows Prince Henry and First Son Alex as they navigate going from rivals to lovers. And deal with everything that comes with it.
Content/Trigger Warnings
There will be some slight spoilers here.
They're gay, your honor. So if that bothers you, don't watch this movie. And go away. Not sure why you're here if the idea of two consenting adult men kissing bothers you.
Sex - not super graphic in my opinion, but you know what those two are doing
Drinking
Partial nudity (you see a butt. You know what other movie you see a butt in? George of the Jungle. Wanna guess what George of the Jungle was rated? Fucking PG)
Forced coming out
Invasion of Privacy
Tropes
Here is the list of tropes. Ooooh boy we got some good ones this time.
Affectionate Nickname - I love this trope. I am a sucker for silly little nicknames.
First Kiss - That first kiss was fucking magnificent.
Love Epiphany - Oh, the look on Alex's face when he realizes he's in love. Perfection. Love this shit.
Running Gag - I love a good running gag in things, and this one was pretty good.
Snark to Snark Combat - Oh gods, the snark! The snark!
Characters/Casting
Alex and Henry are such great characters. So many of the characters are. A couple characters from the book do not appear in the movie. Some characters weren't in the book. So, heads up there.
But yeah, characters are great and I think the casting was fucking great. Taylor Zakhar Perez and Nicholas Galitzine were fantastic as Alex and Henry.
Oh, also, I hate Miguel. Just... hate him.
Plot
At
Prince Henry's brother's wedding, he and Alex (the son of the
President) get into a confrontation that results in them destroying the
wedding cake. They are forced to play nice and pretend to be friends.
While doing so, they fall in love. But that comes with its own problems.
The biggest one being, Henry is a prince. And Princes can't be gay.
I
think the plot is great. And the movie pulls it off wonderfully.The book had more politics in the plot, but the movie cut a lot of it. Which is fine.
Adaptation?
This is an adaptation. And after I watched the movie I re-read the book in a day... Cause I could not get enough of these two making heart eyes at each other. So, there were changes. The biggest change is that Alex no longer has a sister. I miss her, but I can understand the change. Also, no Raf. Or Leo. In the movie, Alex's parents are still married, but in the book they are divorced. There were a few other small changes, but those were the big non-spoiler ones. And honestly, the changes didn't really take anything from the story.
One thing I fucking loved was how they kept some of Henry and Alex's texts and phone calls in the movie, and how they were done. I wish you got to see/hear more of their emails since the emails were a big part of the book and movie, really. But bits from the emails still showed up in other ways.
There are a couple scenes that were new for the movie. And by far my favorite is when Alex gives Henry his key. I will not elaborate more than that, but I love the change they made in the scene from book to movie.
Romance
The main romance is between Henry and Alex (obviously, I keep saying it). And it is great. They have personalities that mesh well. Henry is very much the proper prince. Doing what is expected, hiding who he is because of duty and all of that. And Alex is not. I'm not saying he doesn't do his duty as the president's son (which is clearly outlined in the Constitution), or anything. No. Alex is a fighter. He fully believes in fighting for what he believes is right. And he believes him and Henry being together is right. And that does create some conflict.
Beautiful romance though. Just... the heart eyes those boys make at each other...
Costuming
Modern story with modern costumes. I do have to say, Alex looks damn good in those suits. I can see why Henry fell in love with him. Like, damn, boy.
How diverse is it?
Aside from the Royal Family, I think there was one white person. And the main focus was a queer relationship (Alex is bi, Henry is gay).
Overall Thoughts
First off, this did not deserve an R-rating. I have seen PG-13 movies that had sex scenes just as graphic. The only reason I can think of on why this got an R rating is because it is a romance between two men and they have sex. And it's not even that explicit, in my opinion. If my kid wanted to watch this when they were 13 I would have allowed it. Wouldn't have watched it with them cause no one needs to see how much I cried and called two grown men "babies" during this movie.
I was scared this movie would not meet my expectations because I fucking loved the book. But the movie was fantastic. It was funny at times. And the moments of seriousness were done so well.
There's an important part of Alex's speech towards the end of the movie:
The truth is every queer person has the right to come out on their own terms, and on their own timeline. They also have the right to choose not to come out at all. The forced conformity of the closet can not be answered with the forced conformity in coming out of it.
This is important. There have been a lot of actors accused of queer-baiting after playing a queer character. Writers have been harassed because they present as straight females and are writing stories about queer characters. And it's bullshit. First off, real people can't queer bait. It is not a thing. Stop saying it is. Second, stop saying every straight presenting female that writes about two dudes kissing are fetishizing them. I'm sure there are some writers out there that are doing this. Or writing queer stories in bad faith. But harassing everyone who writes queer romance is just a dick move. Don't do it.
Highly recommend this movie to anyone who likes a good rom-com.
Okay... That might be all. I mean, I could gush about this movie for days but I sadly don't have time right now.
