Royal Matchmaker
Review by Janelle Leonard
Plot
A single NYC matchmaker is hired by a king to find his son a suitable wife. As the clock ticks toward her deadline, the matchmaker finds him the perfect wife, only to realize that she’s fallen in love with him!
Featuring
Joy Lenz (Kate Gleason), Will Kemp (Prince Sebastian)
Side characters: Simon Dutton (King Edward), Brittany Bristow (Britney), Joseph Thompson (Victor Chatsworth, Valet), Woody Hamilton Hurst (Rudy, Victor’s son), and Elva Trill (Petra Petrovich, “I love her!”)
**I thought Victor and Britney were headed for romance, but nope . . . I like how the subplot romance turned out.
The movie opens at a wedding where the grateful mother of the bride tells Kate: “I can only imagine the prince your Mr. Right must be.”
Kate (muttering): “You and me both.”
Kate rushes away from the wedding because she has an important date: reading Pride and Prejudice (definitely worthy of leaving a wedding for!).
Meet-Cute
Kate is waiting at the palace to meet the prince who doesn’t know why she’s there. The king says she’s there to help Sebastian on his quest.
Sebastian: “My quest?”
Kate: “Finding you the love of your life! I’m your royal matchmaker!”
Then he laughs, proclaiming he doesn’t have a note of resistance, he has a symphony.
Kate to Britney: “He thinks my job is a joke!”
Reveal Moment
he royal reveal comes with a Zoom meeting between the king and Kate. (Britney blindsided Kate with just opening the laptop and BOOM, “He’s a king!”) The king wants to hire her to find his son true love in four weeks!
**Kate has done her homework (that’s her job), so she knows he’s the prince when they first meet. He on the other hand, has no idea that she is the Queen of Hearts.
My Thoughts
The acting is amazing, the banter superb, and the thoughts expressed by both Prince Sebastian and Kate tweak your thinking. Kate goes into the process knowing the prince is the heir apparent, has a political science degree, spends his time traveling the world, enjoys adventure sports, and when it comes to relationships, he’s never been photographed with the same woman twice. As Kate spends time dissecting Prince Sebastian’s personality, she’s introduced to his heart—the man behind the façade. I loved watching their friendship grow, stretching them both to reach their full potential. The story ends pretty much how it began, Kate running away from another successful match . . . I’m not going to spoil the ending, but it’s Hallmark, and PERFECT MATCHES are their forte.
A Favorite Scene
I laugh when Britney tells Kate that she’s a match for the prince as well as Petra (who I REALLY like for the prince, but Kate is a better match at 98.5%. Petra was only a 96% match).
Kate: “Why did you tell me that?”
Then she proceeds to talk A LOT, trying to convince Britney that she’s absolutely, in no way, in love with Prince Sebastian.
I watched The Royal Matchmaker on the Hallmark Channel (then ended up buying it). I was not required to write a review, and this does not influence my review, positive or otherwise. All opinions expressed are mine alone.