Prime Video is tinged with Red, White and (Blood) Blue thanks to the new LGBTQ+ rom-com we are talking about in this review.
History, huh? I bet we could write some, the two of us
It is one of the most loved quotes by fans of Red, White & Royal Blue (Red, white and blue blood in Italian), the book by Casey McQuiston which has enjoyed such success since its publication in 2019, also climbing the rankings of New Times bestseller. And after conquering readers in paper form, it is precisely the love story of Alex and Henry that is also about to debut in a cinematic version thanks to Prime Video. Let’s discover it in this one review of Red, White and Blue Bloods.
True love is not always diplomatic
Impossible not to inaugurate our review with the tagline of the book, especially considering the fact that Red, White and Blue Blood è is a work that makes memorable jokes, puns and irony one of its greatest strengths. In fact, the story of Alex Claremont Diaz (Taylor Zakhar Perez), the son of the President of the United States, and Henry George Edward James Hanover Stuart Fox (Nicholas Galitzine) – it was right to specify – the Prince of England. Two prominent political figures, but above all two young men who find themselves having to weigh their feelings together with their duties, and who between one state meeting and another, between a message and an email, a confectionery catastrophe and a media scandal, will build one of the most idealized relationships by today’s readers.
Because even if we have now passed the twenty-year threshold of the 2000s, the one we live in remains a society of a thousand contradictions, and as far as we can go, there will always be something in which we will never really all keep up. The LGBTQ+ discourse in Red, White and Blue Blood obviously has its relevance, and is opposed to tradition more in the case of Henry and the monarchy than in that of Alex (son of a female President and a Senator of Latin American origins), but it is the search for oneself and one’s identity , the will to listen and understand one’s heart, to represent the central element of the story.
Red, White & Blue Bloods: The novel adaptation trailer shows the birth of a love
Space, therefore, for questions about one’s sexuality, even if the protagonists seem to already have a fairly clear idea in the end. There is also space for the conversation generated by these “revelations” which, faithful to the original work, do not actually occupy more than a few pages, as in the case of Alex’s coming out with his mother, but above all the focus is on the development of the relationship between two and on the possible implications, in the political and everyday sphere, of a relationship between important figures such as they are.
Sure, the risk of being overly didactic is lurking, and you can’t always avoid it, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s up to you to decide how much it will affect your enjoyment of the work.
From page to screen
One of the aspects on which the transposition of Red, White and Blue Blood directed by Matthew López seems to have poured more effort into making the bond that is gradually being created between Alex and Henry as tangible as possible, also finding interesting directorial solutions in the realization of the exchanges between the two during the virtual correspondence that solidifies their simple attraction first, then a real relationship. The personifications of the messages work, and in general the graphic devices adopted, which rely heavily on the work of the two interpreters, whose chemistry is quite evident; however, there are sometimes moments that are a little too silly. Although the director has indicated Zakhar Perez as the actor most similar to his character at the start, Galitzine is the one who seems to have truly adapted himself perfectly to the role, perhaps also helped by the fact that his principles (and Queen… continue to give him Queen songs to sing), by now, he’s getting quite proficient (remember him in the latest adaptation of Cinderella?).
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On the other hand, the management of the times can leave you perplexed, with the first 40 minutes of the film occupied by a succession of events presented in a rather hasty manner, as if you couldn’t wait to leave the “pleasants” behind and devote yourself to the rest of the narration (also in this case the adaptation is faithful to the original novel). However, it is the pacing of the film which, due to this imbalance, can create imbalance in the viewer’s perception (almost as much as Uma Thurman’s accent). Perhaps it will also be the editing choices that do not contribute to a perfectly homogeneous result in some cases, but these could perhaps represent a plus for some.
Most of the dynamics and interactions between the various characters (at least those that have been kept), however, find their way to the small screen with ease, such as that between President Zahra’s right-hand man (Sarah Shahi ) and Alex, or the one between the latter and the security agent Amy Gupta, always able to elicit a smile.
Conclusions
Our review of Red, White and Blue Blood ends here, and does not raise a masterpiece or demonize the new Prime Video production, which does its thing without infamy and without praise. But if, at the end of the vision, what remains most are the humanity and warmth that the film aims to convey to the viewer, then it can be defined as a rather successful rom-com, net of all the defects that can present.
Because we like it
- The feeling of tenderness that is able to convey.
- The directorial gimmicks used to make certain passages of the story.
- Good chemistry between the actors.
What’s wrong
- Use of film times and pacing of the story.
- Questionable assembly choices.
- Sometimes excessively didactic, sometimes a little (too) silly and artificial.