The Royal Treatment

This warmhearted, well-intentioned movie is ultimately sabotaged by a lack of originality and a wacky hodgepodge of accents. It would be an understatement to call The Royal Treatment predictable. The filmmakers seem intent on admitting as much with an early reference to another faux kingdom, Genovia of The Princess Diaries, and several nods to Pretty Woman, including a process of refining two unsophisticated hairdressers and a romantic finale on a fire escape. In between, a sheltered prince and his love interest from the barrio discover their mutual restraints of family obligations and their shared desire to "change the world."

The film's heavy emphasis on fighting injustice and caring for those less fortunate is surely admirable, and lead actress Marano is nothing less than charming. But there's also some musty stereotyping, from the communally merry poor to the snooty palace workers, heart-of-gold laborers, no-holds-barred New Yorkers, and capitalist Texans. The New Zealand production has local actors pretending to be Italian, American, French, and Lavanian (whatever that is in the mix of accents happening there). It's a mistake to think audiences won't notice or care about how false this rings, especially in a film peddling the importance of being genuine.