I mean it took me so long to watch it, and I didn't think it would be anything special. I don't mind standard Hallmark Christmas movies, but I saved only the coolest ones for the last week, and I fear this one, which I had never seen before, wouldn't really be on the same level of the others. Then, in the 23rd minute of the movie, she appeared.
Marina Sirtis!!!
Let me explain this, if there's anyone who might be reading who is not familiar with Star Trek (by the way, Star Trek is my favourite thing ever, best TV show ever made, stop reading this post this minute and go watch a few episodes right now!!). It's not just that Marina Sirtis was on Star Trek. She is Counsellor Deana Troy! She's Star Trek Royalty. There could not be a more fitting Trek star to show up unexpectedly in a Royalty themed Christmas Blogathon!!!
Marina Sirtis plays Felicia, long-time secretary to the queen of Maldavia. When the prince texts the queen telling her he will spend Christmas with "Sam", an American friend, he didn't tell his mother the whole story. It was Felicia who told the queen that "Sam" is actually "Samantha", an American girlfriend the royal family has never met. The queen is not pleased with the news at all. She wants Clara, a baroness who's been acquainted with the family since infancy to be her daughter in law, and she actually has a lot of power in the matter. Maldevia has a "Marriage Act", a law that allows the king and queen to veto any young lady's ambition to marry the prince, as long as she's not from Royal background.
Alexander has been in America for a while. The crown prince works as a diplomat, trying to stay away from his country for a while, and from the influence his family has over his life. He has a girlfriend he has never told them about, Samantha, a young teacher in New York city but it goes even beyond that: he has never told Samantha that he is a Prince!
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| In December, everything tastes like Christmas... |
Felicia was, of course, the best part of the movie. I will gladly admit I am not an impartial observer here, however her character was very different from other character stereotypes in this sort of movie. These Royal romances usually have a member of the palace staff who is close to the young prince or to the monarchs, but they usually fall under one of two categories.Ttype 1 is the stern servant who is obsessed with tradition to the detriment of the feelings of a young prince or princess. Sometimes this type is downright evil. Type 2 is the kind butler who has cared for the prince since he was born and kindly helps him achieve the independence he dreams of.
Felicia manages to balance both those things. When she first appears it seems like she's travelling to America to make Alexander's relationship crash and burn, but when she arrives, she is kind and warm when talking to the prince. She listens to his thoughts and feelings and helps guide him to the right decisions, but she still remembers his place, and the importance of the crown. When she learns he's been hiding his identity from the girl her first reaction is to be concerned, concerned that he feels he must hide who he is, a reasonable and even maternal reaction I had not seen in any of these movies in which the prince doesn't tell the girlfriend who he actually is. When Alexander comes with an idea that they should build a palace for the gingerbread house contest, Felicia is happy that he is proud of his heritage, at least enough to display it like that. Really, she's wonderful.
Most of the movie is set in Maple Falls, which is cool because these small American towns make good settings for Christmas movies, and most of the movies I watched this year were set elsewhere, usually in the foreign country where the prince is from. Furthermore, "My Christmas Prince" really made excellent use of the small town setting. They have Christmas traditions and there is a big emphasis on that, but their traditions, a lot of them, are very unique to that particular town - or at least, are not seen in most Christmas Movies - which made the whole thing feel more real.
One of the things they had for instance was this sort of country fair with homemade cider, hot chocolate, reindeer munch (popcorn, marshmallows, and red and green chocolate candies), and other foods like that. They also had a hayride, basically, a ride in a cart full of straw, pulled by a tractor! The town also had a Christmas dance and at the end of the dance, they even crowned a king and queen, kind of like a prom for grown-ups.
And, of course, the decorations and Christmas-themed snacks (hello, Christmas donut!) were everywhere.
Another element I really enjoyed was Samantha's family. Her parents were great, and this was evident at several moments in the movie, like when the father chose the earrings for their anniversary. One of the secondary plots of the movie was this Anniversary surprise engendered by the father. Since their anniversary was so close to Christmas, they never made a fuss about it, and the mother insisted every year that they should focus on Christmas, and on getting great presents for their kid. This time, however, dad is decided to get his wife a great gift to make up for 29 years of not celebrating their Anniversary. He gets er earrings fit for a queen, and the moment is super sweet. Later, Samantha actually points out that they don't make a fuss over their Anniversary because they celebrate their marriage every day of the year, which is a beautifully phrased thought.
Their house is amazing. There are Christmas trees everywhere, and they unapologetically admit to go a little overboard with the decorations. In fact, during Christmas morning, all four of them, mom, dad, Sam and Alex are wearing matching Christmas pajamas (checkered red scottish-like pattern). And bear in mind they don't have a little kid in the house anymore. Their daughter is an adult, she lives in a big city now. But they still make an effort, they keep Christmas in a great style and they love doing it... Sometimes, when children grown up, the parent's excitement over the holidays goes away. Not in this house though, and that's awesome to watch.
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