Worth: $16.50
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Rhiannon Fish, Mitchell Bourke, Cara McCarthy, David Hooley, Andrea Moor
Intro:
...a sweet, funny and appealingly unpretentious little charmer that will prompt plenty of smiles.
How do you make your way into a crowded cinematic marketplace instantly suspicious of films that don’t originate from America, the greatest colonial power when it comes to movies? Well, you just put on an accent, cover your tracks with clever production design and editing, cast actors the equal of any Hollywood brat when it comes to charm and appeal, and then casually slide into the mix. It’s certainly worked for the Australian romantic comedy A Royal in Paradise, which comes to local cinemas after already accruing a solid audience overseas. But as well as its cheeky Oz-for-America moves, the film also boasts abundant freshness and charm, plenty of good-natured laughs, and two leads that have genuine on-screen chemistry, as well as oodles of individual likeability.
Olivia Perkins (Home and Away and Neighbours alum Rhiannon Fish is an utter delight here) is a popular writer of romantic fiction struggling with writer’s block. After a meet-cute with a handsome guy in New York, Olivia heads to an island resort for a little R&R and hopeful inspiration, and gets a lot more than she bargained for. In amongst the palm trees and tropical waters, Olivia bumps into the same guy again, and the sparks fly. The audience knows, however, that Alexander (talented newcomer Mitchell Bourke) is actually an incognito prince from the small kingdom of Torovia, and that any romantic involvement is going to bring bag-loads of complication and protocol with it. Cue perceived betrayals of trust, romantic royalist tropes galore, and familial pressure that tests the growing bond of our burgeoning young couple.
Though wholly familiar, director Adrian Powers (currently on a high following the Netflix hit Love is in the Air) imbues the Queensland-shot A Royal in Paradise with so much energy and warm-hearted good intentions that it never becomes a problem. All conjuring up excellent American and English accents, Rhiannon Fish and Mitchell Bourke are terrific together, and they are well supported by Cara McCarthy (as Olivia’s plucky pal), David Hooley (as Alexander’s butler turned friend Winston), and the wonderfully imposing Andrea Moor (as Alexander’s horribly superior, interfering mother, Queen Patricia). A Royal in Paradise is a sweet, funny and appealingly unpretentious little charmer that will prompt plenty of smiles.
A Royal in Paradise will screen on October 17 at 11am and October 18 at 6.30pm in cinemas around Australia.
