Jessica is a young woman trying to make it as a chef in New York city, without much success. Although she's good at her job and her food is delicious, the restaurant is struggling to attract costumers, and she's contemplating closing the doors if she can't make enough to pay rent for another month. All of that is going to change from the moment prince John walks through her door.
Prince John - or Jack, as his friends call him - is in charge of organizing his family's annual Christmas Charity Dinner but he and the celebrity chef his mother chose for the event aren't seeing eye to eye on the matter of picking a menu for the feast. The chef presents the prince with one of his proudest creations: a deconstructed Caprese. The prince however is not impressed. He wants something less pretentious, something that actually feels like Christmas and when it becomes clear that this chef isn't going to get him what he wants, the prince fires him. That creates a problem of course: He needs to find a new chef in a matter of days or the dinner is doomed. It's lucky for him that he stumbles upon Jessica's little restaurant and her food seems to be exactly what he needs.
I loved the premisse of this movie. One of the best things about Christmas is the food, and a story centred on this topic showed a lot of promise, but unfortunately, the execution is less than exemplar. When the prince first enters Jessica's restaurant, for instance, he tastes some of the meatloaf and immediately decides that she is the chef he needs for his event... That's just...It feels unrealistic, and a little lazy.
I realize realism is not the point of these silly little TV movies, but a little attention to detail can make all the difference. If I had written the scene, I would have made the prince intrigued by the flavours... Perhaps there would be a window full of Christmas cookies and gingerbread houses and other such things to get him thinking that this is the kind of Christmassy food he wants at his dinner. Then he would sample a larger portion of her menu and only then would he hire her for the job... these added moments would also give the characters a chance to get to know each other better, which is kind of the point of a romantic story, is it not?
In the movie, however, things feel very contrived... Not to mention contradictory. Prince Jack hires Jessica because he wants a less pretentious meal. Then when they start to actually plan the dinner he suggests incredibly pretentious dishes and she has to "put her foot" down and tell him that's not the kind of food she will prepare... it doesn't make sense. Her friend's attitude is just as contradictory. They insist for her to take the job, that it's a great opportunity, but when she actually starts planning the dinner, they quickly tell her that it's a mistake, that a lot of things could go horribly wrong and so on... It just doesn't make sense.
The think I disliked the most about this movie, however, is the heroine. Jessica didn't captivate me in the slightest. She just doesn't act like someone who's trying to make her restaurant succeed. When jack first comes in, she is incredibly rude to him. He is literally the only customer in the place, but she takes his order like she couldn't be bothered. Perhaps that's why the restaurant is failing, because she's so hostile to the clients all the time! Does she really wants this place to succeed?
Later when she offers her the opportunity of her career, hosting the Christmas dinner, she flat out refuses. Says it's beyond her capabilities, that she would never do it... It doesn't come across as someone who's a little insecure about her skills, it comes across as someone who's unwilling to challenge themselves and embrace the opportunities that they are given. And when the prince insists and boosts her confidence it feels false because he doesn't really know her at this point.
That trend continues throughout the movie. The prince could actually have been something in a different movie. Although he looks young, he behaves very maturely. He is charming and polite and he behaves as a gentleman in an effortless way. The story doesn't dwell too much on how isolated he feels for being a royal, or on how he's suffocated by the overwhelming attention of tabloids and magazines. He can deal with that. It's cool. WHen he kisses Jessica's hand, it's not like it is a big deal to him. It's just the proper way to behave and he acts very nonchalantly about it.
Jessica on the other hand comes across as bitter and rude. She is never polite to Jack even though he never gives her a reason to treat him rudely, and she acts like she is "entitled" to have a successful restaurant, not like she's working hard to deserve the success she aspires to. It's annoying, and it's impossible to relate to such a heroine.
The worst part is that it feels like the character was designed this way for a reason. Like this is a new stereotype: the "woke millennial" or something, and the story is trying to turn that stereotype - someone rude, entitled and immature - into a viable romantic partner. It just doesn't work, at least to me. There is a world of difference between a woman who's falsely accused of being "rude" because she's assertive and determined and trying to make her own path in life, and a woman who's just "rude". In this movie, Jessica is the latter and that kind of ruined the movie for me. That's why I can't really recommend this one...
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