“Red, White & Royal Blue”, which was released on Amazon Prime in last week, is a lightweight romantic comedy film which decorates its very familiar genre formula with some interesting story elements. Sure, homosexual romance has become quite a mainstream story subject even in romantic comedy movies these days as shown from “Bros” (2022) and “Spoiler Alert” (2022), but the movie distinguishes itself to some degree as having a fun with the specific aspects of its two contrasting main characters, and we are also actually touched as they come to show more of their feelings to each other along the story despite the considerable obstacles in front of their little private affair.

Like many other contrasting couples in romantic comedy films, the two main characters of the movie are not so cordial to each other from the very beginning. While he is attending a royal wedding party held in London, Alex Claremont-Diaz (Taylor Zakhar Perez), who is the son of the current President of the United States, happens to clash with Prince Henry (Nicholas Galitzine) for petty reasons, and their mutual contempt to each other eventually culminates to a big public embarrassment, which is quickly developed into a hot media topic around the world. As a part of the following damage control, Alex and Prince Henry now have to look friendly together in public, and that surely annoys both of them in one way or another.

However, as spending more time together, Alex and Prince Henry come to realize that they are not so different from each other despite lots of differences between their respective social backgrounds. Sure, Prince Henry has much more privileges than Alex as the younger brother of the current Crown Prince, but Alex also have to have a fair share of burden for being a public figure just like Prince Henry, and they eventually come to interact more with each other after Alex goes back to US.

In the end, there comes a point where Prince Henry begins to show his growing feelings toward Alex, and, what do you know, Alex turns out to be quite attracted to Prince Henry although he is not totally gay like Prince Henry. After that point, they continue to meet each other while keeping their burgeoning romance in secret from many others except a few figures they can trust, and, as an R-rated romantic comedy, the movie does not hesitate to delve into some carnal aspects of their romance including, yes, that common act of sexual intercourse I do not dare to mention here in this review for, uh, public decency.

As things get more serious between them, both Alex and Prince Henry become more conflicted about whether they can really go further with their romantic passion. While Alex is concerned about whether his romance with Prince Henry can damage his mother’s ongoing presidential campaign, Prince Henry wonders more about whether he can be brave enough to break away from those old traditions represented by his royal family. Maybe he should put away his feelings instead, but then he cannot help himself about his feelings – especially when Alex opens himself more to him later in the story.

Even before that point, we already know quite well where the story is going, but the screenplay by director Matthew Lopez, who has been mainly known for his Tony-winning play “The Inheritance”, and his co-writer Ted Malawer, which is based on the novel of the same name by Casey McQuiston, keeps us engaged as sensitively and thoughtfully building up the progress of Alex and Prince Henry’s intimate relationship. While it is often amusing to watch how they try to keep their romance in secret, the movie also provides some little poignant moments between them, and there is an achingly sincere scene where Prince Henry shows Alex a little private place where he can be just a plain person for a while instead of a famous public figure.

Above all, the movie is supported well by the good chemistry between its two lead actors. Taylor Zakhar Perez, who recently appeared in Netflix films “The Kissing Booth 2” (2020) and “The Kissing Booth” (2021), brings enough wit and charm to his character, and he is also convincing when his character tries to do much more than merely being the son of the US president later in the story. Compared to his co-star, Nicholas Galitzine, whom we will see again in Emma Seligman’s “Bottoms” (2023), is more reserved as required by his role, and that is why it is moving to see when his character eventually makes an important choice for himself and Alex.

Around Perez and Galitzine, the movie places a number of various performers who has each own small moment to shine. As Alex’s US President mother, Uma Thurman is a bit strained with an exaggerated Texan accent, but she is matched well by the down-to-earth quality of Clifton Collins Jr., who plays Alex’s US Senator father. While Sarah Shahi often steals the show with her snappy supporting performance, Rachel Hilson, Ellie Bamber, and Aneesh Sheth are solid in their respective parts, and you will be also delighted by the cameo appearance by a well-known British actor around the end of the film, who plays his royal character with humorous aplomb.

In conclusion, “Red, White & Royal Blue” is a pretty conventional product to say the least, but it is equipped with good storytelling and engaging performances at least. Sure, the movie simply does as much as intended, but the overall result is fairly enjoyable and appealing in my inconsequential opinion, so I will not grumble for now.