The first rom-com I’ve watched in the last twenty years or so was ‘Bros’ because certain people said it was worth the watch, and was reportedly the groundbreaking gay rom-com we’d all been waiting for. First of all, I’ve never been waiting for a romantic-comedy – not one of that genre of film has made it onto my top fifty movies. Second, I thought ‘Bros’ kind of sucked. My focus shifted from the lap-top to anything else in the room repeatedly, and I don’t even remember the ending. Did the boy get the boy? Was there a happily ever-after? Did it even matter?
When ‘Red, White and Royal Blue’ was announced as a film, I raised a weary eye-brow and waited for the reception. I’d read the book last summer and enjoyed it on its escapist level, but I didn’t have faith in the rom-com-on-film formula. Perhaps it was the need for something light and fluffy, or the earnest, idealistic tone the film genuinely adopts, or the engaging portrayals of its two handsome leads – and probably because of all of those items I enjoyed it immensely. In fact, it’s led to the start of a dazzling pairing of Dazzlers of the Day, beginning with Taylor Zakhar Perez, who plays the American President’s son. Perez has been wowing audiences for years, in such work as ‘The Kissing Booth’ trilogy and ‘Minx’. Primed for a turn as the next-big-thing, he earns his first Dazzler of the Day crowning here.
