Rob-o My wife and I watched this movie this past weekend as Hallmark's countdown to Christmas was counting down to ending for the year. It's always a little sad to see the Christmas movie marathon end after two months, but life goes on. Anyways, my wife and I were both surprised that Hallmark portrayed the only black guy in the entire fictional country that king was from as the bad guy. Usually, black people in Hallmark movies are cast as being supportive and sassy friends to the lead female role who is either discovering the true meaning of Christmas or helping a love interest discover the true meaning of Christmas. But not this guy. He was evil to the core. He was always looking around evilly. And this guy was constantly conniving with that awful lady who wanted to put the king's daughter in boarding school so that she could have the king to herself. She was truly a Christmas villain. You can tell that she's murdered multiple people in her past. My wife and I both wondered what happened to Danica McKeller's family that she left in "Brooklyn" to be the governess for the King of Hillshire Farms. We both drew the conclusion that Danica's brother and sister were tossed out for not paying rent, and that they were now dealing drugs and panhandling in order to pay for food and/or their burgeoning crack addictions. Well, Danica can probably help them get through rehab now that she is going to be a queen. Danica did a splendid job of making the king fall in love with her in one week. Also, did the king ride a horse to her hotel to pick her up at the end? Does he not need security detail? Is Hillshire Farms that safe? And what kind of currency do they use in that country?Fortunately, these unanswered questions did not take away any stars from my review of this movie. Crown for Christmas made me believe in Santa Clause again, and it reminded my wife that Christmas is about the birth of Christ. Ho ho ho and Joyeux Noel to all!

eapepin-01129 Okay, where do I start. First of all it's a pleasant enough movie with the usual feel-good Hallmark ending, but there are some items that just poke at the continuity director instinct in me that make me fidget.Fergus, the king's assistant shows up at her apartment (how?), has had her investigated (how?), and nobody seems to notice or care. The next day she's in Europe, driving up a snow-covered road with Fergus, who asks, "Would it be fair to say you've never traveled abroad?" Her response? "Does Staten Island count?"... So, how exactly is she flying out of the country, the very next day without a passport? She obviously doesn't have one, and I'm guessing from her back story, never had a reason to have one. Just one of those minor details that should not have been overlooked. Fergus would have asked her if she had one, and there would be some plausible reason given as to why she did.... or, if not, he would have suggested his embassy (or consulate) would make a special request to speed up the process. Instead, it is not mentioned at all, leaving detail-oriented viewers like me shaking their heads. Speaking of continuity, what exactly are they doing in the greenhouse? Why are they putting worm-filled dirt in glass jars? I'm guessing that's just a vehicle to create a scene showing them getting to know each other, but it seems like an odd activity. Her character transition keeps shifting from the overwhelmed, out-of-her-league bewilderment to the aggressive super-confident women who stands up to the king yet cowers from the head of the household staff. Too many little things get in the way of the flow, that keep bringing up more questions than they answer.... Like where did she get the frames for the pictures she drew at the end? And the boxes she wrapped them in? She never left the castle. Anybody think about that? Where did she find the time to do them? You don't crank those out in a few minutes and it looks like she drew a dozen of them.The one bright light in the movie was the girl who played Theodora. She is an absolute delight, and hopefully, she will have a long and successful career. Hallmark is very good at casting thoroughly unlikable characters, like the fiancé and the king's councilor, and they played the role very well.Overall, it was and enjoyable diversion. The Hallmark Movie Channel Christmas spirit machine at work.

A_Different_Drummer When your humble reviewer grew up (when dinosaurs roamed) there was no such thing as a Christmas movie.As the TV age dawned, older movies which perhaps had a X-Mas scene in them would be eagerly displayed by programmers at fledgling TV stations to try to establish a "theme." Look closely for example at Miracle on 34th Street (the original -- not the 200 remakes!) or even Its a Wonderful Life and you will notice they are actually real movies that just happen to have a secondary X-mas theme.So for those of us of a certain age, we grew up to the same half-dozen or so movies played over and over, season after season.As with everything else, the pendulum swung the other way and by the dawn of the new millennium, making these movies for the season had become a profit center. Now suddenly we have too many of them. And they are not all gems.But this one is. The pacing is wonderful as is the casting the acting and the performance of Danica McKellar. The script does not over-reach.Loved it.

Kelsey Horton Some of the other reviews are talking about how similar it is to other movies but let me tell you. I cried my eyes out, so beware! It was an amazing movie! Definitely my new favorite so to say at the least I highly recommend this movie! It is a great movie to watch with family or even just your significant other. This is the first Christmas hallmark that I've watched that I have actually fell in love with and cried so much with. I believe the creators chose the perfect people for all the roles as well. I do hope there is a second movie to this that can explore not only the main characters lives but as for the help as well. I would love to explain that, but I don't want to spoil this movie for anyone (: