The Winter Palace

Horrible movie! Danica jumped the shark. She plays the same person, time and time over. Now she's become a bumbling idiot. If she's tried to change her usual character it's not working. Very disappointed.

This was the first movie I've watched on the GAC Family channel and I was hoping Danica McKeller would make it a new go to channel. But, then it started and that hope faded fast. They must have written The Winter Palace as Danica was signing her contract and started filming 20 minutes later because there was no chemistry at all between the two stars and the only likable person other then Danica was the prince's bodyguard. I'm okay with the aging Hallmark stars moving to GAC, they need an infusion of youth, but Danica can't be happy with her first movie. I'll give GAC another shot, but they'd better put more effort into their movies or I'm gone.

Danica McKeller and Neil Bledsoe were great together. The movie was funny and entertainment. The scenery was beautiful. Good job by GAC. Will watch this one again.

Plot-wise, this was a common example of the royal/commoner romance plot. Danica McKellar is a new author with one successful novel who is being pressured to submit her second romance novel per her contract. Predictably she has writers block and is given the opportunity to be a caretaker at a remote lodge in the mountains for some peace and quiet. No, it's not haunted and she doesn't turn into a homicidal maniac. Sorry to disappoint. The owners are European and haven't been there for years. All she has to do is knock the icicles off the eaves, take care of the furnace, and find her inspiration to honor her contract. The owner shows up unexpectedly and it's a prince with his two minions. This was watchable thanks to Neal Bledsoe who played the prince. He was very attractive and had a lot of charisma. He also had a personality, starting off snooty and entitled and loosening up slowly but surely while becoming enamored of Danica. The two actors had a nice rapport going throughout. Danica did good in this one. Despite the usual, and I do mean usual, roadblocks, it all proceeds to a happy ending and I liked the resolution to the "how can an American romance novelist find happiness with a Concordian King" dilemma.

Wanted to see what the fuss was about with Danica's first GAC movie. It was okay. The script was a little bland, but there were a few funny moments. I like Neal Bledsoe as a royal. Overall this movie is worth a watch, but probably not worth watching twice.

If you take this movie as purely a fairy tale with some humor thrown in, then the story itself is decent. In that vein, I thought that this "royal" movie was a bit further from any reality and closer to fantasy than most. Even the relationship between Emily and Prince Henry seemed unreal to me and that's where a movie like this should be a little more believable. The final scene would have been much better without an overly long cheesy speech. There was one really excellent line by Edwina. The sets seemed a little cheap and given the presumed location there should have been more good scenery.

The story is far from being a delightful winter palace. The script is thinner than rice paper and those odd accents are better left forgotten. It's a cheap and simple production, you'll notice it soon enough if you decide to watch the film.

Danica and Neal both turned in good performances. They also had a little chemistry in the last half. The scenery was good but none of this was enough to rescue this movie from a bad supporting cast and extremely bad writing.

Cute movie, entertaining & funny, good ending. Danica had her 'fake moments & expressions', but she did much better in this movie. Hallmark better watch out. Every movie we watched on GAC during the holidays, plus the new ones in January, are all better than anything we saw on Hallmark.