Hallmark For All Seasons

I can’t be the only one that wishes “One Royal Holiday” had kicked off 2020’s Countdown to Christmas, right?  The whole time I watched this movie, I thought, “Why was THIS not the first movie we got to see?”

“One Royal Holiday” aired on October 31, 2020.  It starred a plethora of Broadway stars, including Laura Osnes, Aaron Tveit,  Victoria Clark, Tom McGowan and Krystal Joy Brown.  Not only that, but it was filmed in Connecticut rather than Canada.  Written by Julie Sherman-Wolfe (who is one of my favorite Hallmark screenwriters) and directed by Dustin Rikert (who previously directed A Christmas Love Story and Christmas Everlasting), the movie heavily featured the Inn at Woodstock Hill, among other local spots found in the Woodstock, Putnam and Hartford areas of Connecticut.

In a nutshell

You guys.  I loved this movie.  I didn’t just love this movie,  I adored every minute of it from beginning to end.  For those that are new to Hallmark movies, THIS is what they used to be.  Check out “Winter Wonderland” (2013) or “Naughty or Nice” (2012) and you’ll see that Hallmark Christmas movies used to be funny and fun.  “One Royal Holiday” was a refreshing return to that tradition and I am HERE FOR IT.

Plot (from Hallmark Channel’s website)

When Anna (Osnes) offers a stranded mother (Clark) and son (Tveit) shelter in a blizzard, she learns that they are the Royal Family of Galwick. Anna shows the Prince how they do Christmas in her hometown, encouraging him to open his heart and be true to himself.

Actors

Every person in this movie was stellar.  Absolutely stellar.   I have absolutely no comments about any of them other than the fact that I enjoyed every single performance from top to bottom.

Six Degrees of Polaha: Broadway star Victoria Clark (who played the queen) is 2 degrees from Kristoffer Polaha.  In 2010 she shared the screen with Colin Firth in “Main Street,” while Firth went on to co-star with Polaha in 2013’s “Devil’s Knot.”

Chemistry

As I said, the whole cast was fantastic.  Chemistry in leaps and bounds.  I loved Osnes and Tveit as a pair, and I adored Clark’s portrayal of Queen Gabriella.  Tom McGowan shined as Anna’s dad (I saw him on Broadway in 2016’s “She Loves Me” and he is fabulous in that if you get a chance to see the filmed-for-TV version).  Brown as the mayor was adorable.  I just can’t gush enough.

Tropes

So. Many. Tropes.  I was in heaven.  First, it’s a royal movie.  It also featured a woman returning to her small hometown for the holidays to the family biz. But not only that, we got to see some empty coffee cups (supposedly filled with hot cocoa (being held in TWO HANDS! The trifecta!)).  There was a sleigh ride, some big scarves, tree decorating, a character with at least one dead parent, an almost imperceptible almost-kiss.  Did you see it?  It was so slight as to be easily missed if you turned away from the TV for that half a second.  It was awesome.

We also had cookies and gingerbread, some caroling (which was both fantastic and weird because SOMEONE was not in key during that caroling), a holiday dance AND a new trope I’m going to start tracking: one hand on someone’s face while the couple kisses at the end.

Bingo Card Score for “One Royal Holiday”

No bingo, which surprised me given how many tropes were in the movie. I covered 12 spots, but was not able to convert that to a winning bingo card. Feel free to download my free bingo cards and play along!

Did I Hear/See That Right?

Were there things wrong with the movie?  Sure.  No movie is perfect. BUT I DID NOT CARE.  I was having so much fun watching this movie that I did not write anything down as far as plot holes.  But I will note TWO things.

First, in a world where social media is ever-present, there is no way that a queen and crown-prince would leave the hospital luncheon and NOT be reported as MISSING when they don’t make it to their next destination in a timely manner.  That would be headline news on every station across the world.  And yet they are able to remain in that sleep Connecticut town and NOT have people post that they are hiding out at the inn?   Get out of here with that nonsense. *lol*

Secondly, the prince’s suit.  Look at the picture below.  Is that in fashion now?  That weird low-cut vest that makes him look like he’s wearing a pinstriped bustier, not a three-piece suit?  Because if that’s the new fashion, I don’t like it.

Feelgoods

I love so many things about this movie.  As soon as I saw the movie contained animated opening credits, I felt a zing in my heart.  The comedy in this movie was on point.  I absolutely loved everything about the Queen.  Did anyone else notice at the end of the sleigh ride that there was a little black dog sitting with the driver?!?!  So adorable!  I loved the reference to James looking like Captain VonTrapp in his bedtime outfit.  I loved James and Anna holding hands at the caroling.  At one point Anna said something like “Keeping the tree up until February is wrong but I’d leave it up year round.”  I raised my fist in solidarity, and not just because I kept my main Christmas tree up until March this past year.

But let’s talk about the almost kiss.  James and Anna are sitting back, talking about life.  And as they enter into a pause in the conversation, he leans ever so slightly in her direction before abruptly bringing the conversation to an end and going to bed.  That slight lean, so small as to almost go unnoticed.  It was EVERYTHING.  I rewound it three times to watch it over and over again. So, so good.  Now THAT’S how you do an almost kiss, Hallmark!!  The slight lean was on par with the MacFayden/Knightly lean in 2005’s Pride & Prejudice.  I’m just going to leave that scene right here because it’s my 2nd favorite scene in that particular movie:

Re-watchability

Oh yeah, I’m watching “One Royal Holiday” for sure.  This one is getting saved for multiple repeat viewings this holiday season. No doubt about that.

I’m very curious to know why Hallmark opted to have this air during the second weekend of Countdown to Christmas versus opening weekend.  They opened the season with Jingle Bell Bride, which wasn’t a BAD movie, per se, but certainly not as good as “One Royal Holiday.”  They should have started straight out the gate with this one to get the season started, then aired “Jingle Bell Bride” last Sunday night.  Then this weekend run Chateau Christmas on Saturday and “On The 12th Date of Christmas” on Sunday.

The Ranking

We have a new number one movie for 2020!  So charming I couldn’t stand it, when it comes to the lighter fare that Hallmark has to offer, I believe “One Royal Holiday” will be hard to beat.  It was FANTASTICALLY fun.

1. One Royal Holiday (air date: Oct 31) – 722 pts – weighted score: 121.8 (85.5%)
2. Sweet Autumn (air date: Oct 17) – 693 pts – weighted score: 118.5 (83.1%)
3. Deliver by Christmas (air date: Oct 25) – 697 pts – weighted score: 117.4 (82.4%)
4. Matching Hearts (air date: Feb 8) – 640 pts – weighted score: 109.0 (76.5%)
5. Winter in Vail (air date: Jan 4) – 623 pts – weighted score: 108.8 (76.4%)
6. Wedding Every Weekend (air date: Aug 15) – 639 pts – weighted score: 108.3 (76.0%)
7. Love in Store (air date: Feb 22) – 637 pts – weighted score: 108.2 (75.9%)
8. Hello, It’s Me (air date: Sept 27) – 628 pts – weighted score: 107.8% (75.6%)
9. Love on Harbor Island (air date: Aug 8) – 634 pts – weighted score: 106.9 (75.0%)
10. The Secret Ingredient (air date: Feb 15) – 617 pts – weighted score: 105.2 (73.8%)
11. Country at Heart (air date: Oct 3) – 611 pts – weighted score: 104.1 (73.1%)
12. You’re Bacon Me Crazy (air date: Apr 4) – 591 pts – weighted score: 104.0 (72.9%)
13. My Best Friend’s Bouquet (air date: Oct 10) – 599 pts – weighted score: 103.4 (72.5%)
14. Fashionably Yours (air date: Apr 11) – 594 pts – weighted score: 102.6 (72.0%)
15. Follow Your Heart (air date: Oct 4) – 585 pts – weighted score: 101.6 (71.3%)
16. Christmas Tree Lane (air date: Oct 24) – 574 pts – weighted score: 100.3 (70.4%)
17. A Valentine’s Match (air date: Feb 1) – 562 pts – weighted score: 99.8 (70.0%)
18. Love On Iceland (air date: Jan 18) – 563 pts – weighted score: 99.4 (69.7%)
19. Hearts of Winter (air date: Jan 25) – 561 pts – weighted score: 98.2 (68.9%)
20. Jingle Bell Bride (air date: Oct 24) – 558 pts – weighted score: 97.9 (68.7%)
21. Just My Type (air date: Mar 28) – 565 pts – weighted score: 95.4% (66.9%)
22. Bad Date Chronicles (air date: Feb 28) – 520 pts – weighted score: 91.0 (63.9%)
23. Love in Winterland (air date: Jan 11) – 508 pts – weighted score: 90.7 (63.6%)
24. Nature of Love (air date: Apr 18) – 520 pts – weighted score: 90.3 (63.3%)
25. Chateau Christmas (air date: Oct 25) – 502 pts – weighted score: 87.3 (61.3%)
26. Amazing Winter Romance (air date: Jan 20) – 487 pts – weighted score: 85.6 (60.1%)
27. Love Under the Olive Tree (air date: June 20) – 473 pts – weighted score: 85.0 (59.6%)
28. In the Key of Love (air date: Mar 14) – 470 pts – weighted score: 82.5 (57.9%)
29. Love in the Forecast (air date: Jun 13) – 440 pts – weighted score: 72.5 (50.8%)
30. Midway to Love (air date: June 26) – 410 pts – weighted score: 69.0 (48.4%)
31. Falling at Look Lodge (air date: Sept 26) – 350 pts – weighted score: 64.0 (44.9%)
32. Romance in the Air (air date: Aug 1) – 367 pts – weighted score: 63.2 (44.3%)
33. Follow Me to Daisy Hills (air date: Sept 19) – 337 pts – weighted score: 62.8 (44.1%)
34. How to Train Your Husband (air date: May 16) – 350 pts – weighted score: 62.5 (43.9%)

To see where this movie lands in my overall rankings of Hallmark movies, visit my Hallmark Movie Rankings page!

What did you think of “One Royal Holiday”?  Comment below and let me know!