Private Princess Christmas

I watched this because I'm a sucker for princess movies. This one was such a let-down, even for a Hallmark movie. The acting was mediocre, - and yes, I know Hallmark movies aren't know for award winning acting, but this one was bad. Derek Klena was in no way convincing as a tough guy in charge of cadets. Ali Skovbye was a little more believable, but not much. British accents (or whatever they were supposed to be) seemed fake - I don't think many of them were authentic. Erica Durance as the queen seemed too young for the role. Watch this movie if you have nothing else to watch or, if me, you just like princess movies, but be prepared - it's not Cinderella.

This is a good example of a Hallmark Christmas movie that is so off-the-wall and contrived that you wonder just why it was even made. The premise and the script are so ridiculous that there was no way that the movie could be salvaged.

Plus, there is very little having to do with Christmas here. Most of the characters are irritating, particularly the Queen (I guess she has no other name besides Mother) as played by an almost unrecognizable Erica Durance, who usually is wonderful in her movies - check her out in "Ms. Christmas Comes To Town." Why she took on this thankless role is beyond me.

The only saving grace is Tanja Dixon-Warren as Squibby.

She lets her hair down and adds some spark to the otherwise lackluster proceedings in this turkey.

I can understand why military-related viewers are very negative in their reviews of this film - but, really, you guys, what did you expect in a movie about a 10 day boot camp to toughen up a next-in-line Queen ?

Don't take that plot line seriously under any circumstances !

Okay, so we have writers who decided to do a take-off on Private Benjamin, add in a little Hallmark Royal Trope (in this case a princess), wedge in a love interest, and try to make something funny.

Well, there was one laugh and a few chuckles, but their script failed to live up to their ambition for this movie. They got across that the princess was spoiled, but never could add any real meat to her change in the ten-day boot camp.

Not nearly enough happened between the princess and the captain to build a relationship, so the love story fell flat. The captain's best moments were early on when he manned the returns desk at a Walmart/Target type retail store, and that was over very early.

It's watchable, barely. We won't be repeating the experience.

3.7/10 (Do NOT Recommend)

I feel like this is the first Hallmark film in a long time that I would highly recommend NOT watching. The accents aren't bad, but the acting is extremely terrible. There's no good romance in this movie. There's no emotions in it either. Once you're exposed to the military lifestyle it's nearly impossible to turn off that mentality. Even then, if you can't turn it off, sometimes you can be forgiving, but not here. The whole "military" aspect to this film is atrocious. It's like watching kids play soldier except it's more laughable. Usually these films have some sort of underlying theme that gets you somewhat motivated, but the theme in this movie is so lame and unmotivating. I have nothing good to say about this film, and would highly recommend you NOT include it in your Hallmark Christmas countdown.

That's it for now. Thanks for taking time to read my review. Happy watching and enjoy the show!

If there was a negative rating, this movie certainly deserves it. I'll keep it succinct- terrible script,horrible acting, has no redeeming qualities. I actually watched as I think reviews deserve at least a look. Do NOT WATCH. It is pathetically awful. The writers could have done at least some research. The actor playing Ryan has a Tony nomination-which in itself is unbelievable given this performance.

The characters are all poorly written and the actors are poorly directed. The accents are embarrassing. The place names are just stupid.

I repeat: DO NOT BOTHER WATCHING. You can never have those hours back.