LONDON - Critics say a new made-for-TV, Wills-and-Kate movie is so bad it may end up being a cult classic.
"William and Kate: The Movie" treats the Windsor dynasty as daytime soap opera. The low-budget, rushed-to-completion movie is getting plenty of attention in Britain, for all the wrong reasons.
"So bad it's awful, toe-curlingly, teeth-furringly, pillow-bitingly ghastly," was the verdict Friday in The Guardian newspaper, which concluded the flick was probably destined to be a smash.
The movie chronicles the university romance of Prince William and Kate Middleton, who in real life met and fell in love while studying art history at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
Airing in Britain and the United States before the April 29 royal wedding in London, it was directed by Mark Rosman and produced in the five months since the couple announced their engagement last November.
Critics have not been impressed with Rosman's ability to capture the nuances of Britain's eccentric, distinctive royal family.
The Guardian pointed out that the movie was shot entirely in the Los Angeles area, with poorly done British accents, countryside scenes that looked like California instead of Britain, and London buses driving, incorrectly, on the right side of the street. The acting was described as wooden or worse.
But that won't stop if from debuting in the United States on Lifetime on April 18 and in Britain on Channel Five on April 24. After that, the movie is to be sold as a DVD, possibly finding a niche among the legions of royal wedding memorabilia collectors.
London Evening Standard critic Richard Godwin said American critics "panned this movie as a cheesy chick-flick" but predicted the English will end up cherishing it because the movie is so outlandish.
It stars New Zealander Nico Evers-Swindell playing a dashing version of Prince William in love and Camilla Luddington, whose limited screen credits include playing Tiffany in "Days of Our Lives." She portrays Middleton as a highly emotional young woman determined to snag a prince no matter what the obstacle.
Much is made in the film of the unlikelihood that William would ever marry a commoner.
The film documents key points in their budding relationship, including the scene where Middleton catches William's eye at a fashion show wearing a see-through dress, prompting the future king's alleged quote to friends, "Kate's hot!"
When a friend warns her she won't have a chance with William, the actress playing Middleton gives the camera a smoldering look and says "He's just a guy."
The TV movie is just one of a smattering of royal wedding specials ahead of the real event, which will be seen by a huge live global TV audience.
