Red, white and. Royal blue

[Spudina]

Has anyone watched this yet? I wanted to love it, as I’m obsessed with the book. So after months of waiting, I watched it yesterday (Prime) on its release date and I hate to say it but.... I was a bit disappointed with the changes they had made. I loved the actors, and I will definitely watch it again, but I wish it had been made into a series and stuck more closely to the book storyline.

[User13986509]

I watched it today, i enjoyed it, it was an easy watch, I haven't read the book though but it sounds like there was a lot more in the book

[SerenadeOfTheSchoolRun]

I enjoyed the film but do agree that, having read the book, they did cut out some important bits and people. The casting was great. I loved the coming out scene with Alex and his mum. Hey - it is unusual to prefer the film to the book. This one probably did capture the spirit of the book and then had to edit it down to two hours.

[Spudina]

Yes, on second watching, I realised that I did enjoy the film, if I tried to forget the book, and it did capture the essence of it. They had kept the same scenes, just had to cut the ones they couldn’t fit, and a lot of the dialogue made it into the film. And the love story shone through. And the leads were hot...so it’s growing on me!
@User13986509 i definitely recommend the book.

[Simonjt]

The film was okay, the only thing I struggled with was Uma Thurmans acting, she was so wooden and her southern accent just wasn’t very good.

I saw the attached gem on twitter 🤣

[Epli]

I did not read the book, but the movie did feel rushed sometimes. Nevertheless I liked it, good rom-com.

[Foxy1616]

I really liked the idea of the book, and the idea that both young men had to question what they have, and what they are willing to risk.
however, whilst the book had some lovely moments, it was absolutely swimming in cheesiness and the good parts were swallowed by the stereotypical view/lack of knowledge of the uk
However I liked the film more - it lost a lot of the political diatribe and the unnecessary swearing but it was far too rushed and I wish they’d kept the character of Alex’s sister as that relationship was quite significant

[loveisanopensore]

Wished they'd kept June and there was no need to switch to a King instead of Queen.

[Spudina]

@loveisanopensore i read an interview which explained a lot of the changes and I get why he did that now. He cut the Rafael Luna storyline as it would take 10 minutes to tell it and the movie was only going to be two hours. He wanted more time to be focused on the love story so anything that wasn’t about Henry and Alex had to be cut. He felt having June and Nora would give each of the actresses too little to do, so he just kept Nora to develop her character more. And the Queen has been portrayed so many times by so many actresses he didn’t just want to repeat that, so he opted for a King. Despite being disappointed with the changes at first, I’ve still managed to watch the film everyday. There is a three hour version three was made pre editing and I really hope he releases it.