CHRISTMAS WITH A CROWN

Nicolas, the 35-year-old Crown Prince of Verovia, wants to spend the Christmas holidays in a small New England town, which holds an annual Winter Festival he’s read about in old letters his mother, Queen Mary, has. Meanwhile, a New York professional woman named Cassie returns to the same town, her hometown, to spend time with her father, Walt, and the people she knows.

However, when they get there, both Nicolas and Cassie find out that her father, who used to organize the Winter Festival with her late mother, has decided to forego this year’s festival. Cassie also learns that the town’s library will close down unless it can find some money to remain in business.

So, Cassie decides to organize the Winter Festival to raise funds for the library and to continue her family’s tradition. She has a big problem, however. Christmas is only about three weeks away, which doesn’t give Cassie much time to organize the Festival. Nicolas, who appears incognito with an American accent, offers to help, but Cassie declines because she thinks he’s too arrogant. Nicolas persists and puts on a charm offensive to change her mind, and Cassie relents.

His mother, however, wants Nicolas back to attend the country’s annual Christmas Ball, where Nicolas is supposed to be crowned King this year. She orders his manservant, Arthur, to track down Nicolas and bring him back home immediately. When Arthur shows up to do just that, Nicolas must come up with a solution to stall Arthur until he and Cassie finish planning the Festival. The Queen won’t wait forever, however.

CHRISTMAS WITH A CROWN is nicely acted. It avoids becoming too cheesy by inserting some delightful, comical scenes about planning the festival and throwing other obstacles in Nicolas and Cassie’s way. Also, it turns out that the old letters about the town’s Christmas festival Nicolas saw were letters from Cassie’s mother to the Queen, who were college chums when Cassie’s mother traveled to Europe to attend college. It seems that Nicolas and Cassie were actually meant for each other. Eventually, however, Nicolas and Cassie’s relationship hits a brick wall, and it looks like they’ll never get together.

CHRISTMAS WITH A CROWN has a strong morally uplifting worldview that celebrates family, community and forgiveness. Also, a positive, elegant moral compromise solves the movie’s plot problem and (POSSIBLE SPOILER] lets Nicolas fulfill his royal duties while still getting together with Cassie. That said, there are no overt references to Jesus, the Reason for the Christmas Season. So, the holiday’s meaning is secularized in CHRISTMAS WITH A CROWN, which is a Canadian production shot in Alberta, Canada.