Once Upon A Prince (2018)

Director: Alex Wright (as Alexander J.F. Wright)

Writers: Rachel Hauck (novel), Tracy Andreen

For many people who have read the book,  they didn't appreciate the character of the prince turned king, but I do.  Why?  I've seen a lot of movies worldwide where the kings were like puppets...like they were just rulers on paper.

When I was growing up, mythology and fairytale kings were like gods here on earth.  They proclaimed edicts/decrees or anything to that effect, and people would follow them to the letter.

Ang utos ng hari ay di mababali at walang makakatutol sa gagawin niya. (The Command of the King is irrevocable, and no one can complain about anything or question what he does or would do.)

Why would a Prime Minister or the Board of Regents or whatever control a King of LEGAL age?  If the Crown Prince becomes King at a very young age, then there's an assigned regent, usually his mother, but here in this movie, the King is not a little boy.  I'm glad that he fought for his rights, and his love.  Yes, that's some kind of spoiler, but of course, there's more to it than that.

Now, regarding the garden that they wanted everyone to see, its whole splendour wasn't shown to the viewers, so I couldn't appreciate it.  I know, the budget is limited, but in this movie, Mrs. Waller's garden was even more magnificent.  I kept comparing it to the gardens at Schoenbrunn/Schönbrunn Palace, and it(the garden in the TV movie) wasn't that grand.  So I thought to myself, "Maybe only a portion of the beautiful garden was shown..."

As for the story(novel by RACHEL HAUCK ) and the teleplay(TRACY ANDREEN), I believe both are beautiful in their own right.  Ms. Hauck did not have time and space constraint.  Ms. Andreen teleplay was limited to something like an hour and a half, so you gotta hand it to her for making the story work.  Ms. Hauck is a great writer, and so is Ms. Andreen.  

As for Mr. Keltz and Ms. Park, they do have great chemistry.  I like that their love's buildup was gradual, and it was not forced at all.

Kudos to the other members of the cast.  I like them all.

I guess that's all I'm going to say.

Thanks for your time.