Relishing the Ridiculous

Bonkers romance plots, Hallmark-style movies, and the gift of not having to be so serious all the time

This week, when I sat down to watch a movie for the romantic movie marathon, Netflix reminded me that I had added a movie called The Knight Before Christmas to my list. That wasn’t the movie I had planned on watching, but I’ve been obsessively reading Lisa Kleypas’s Wallflowers series for the past two weeks, and well, a romance with a time-traveling knight sounded tempting. (Plus, one of my favorite romances of all time is Jude Deveraux’s A Knight In Shining Armor—also a time-traveling knight.)

I told myself, I’ll just watch the first few minutes and see if it’s got any potential. Fifteen minutes in and I was thinking, this is pretty ridiculous. So, you’d think I’d turn it off, right? Nope. Kept watching. And ended up enjoying it.

But when I took out my notebook to rate it, I was stumped. Was it great compared to a high production movie? No. Was the plot layered? The characterization deep? No. But did I have a good time watching it? Sure. So how do I rate it?

I run into the same thing when I’m reading certain kinds of romances (it can happen in horror too) where the plot is silly or just completely over the top, and if I tried to describe the story to a friend who doesn’t read the genre, they’d give me a WTF look. Yet, I had a good time reading it.

The truth is sometimes, maybe a lot of the time, we need the fluffy story or the bonkers plot or the insta-love read. The ridiculousness (and I’m saying that word in a loving way) is the magic. It’s a temporary ticket out of the seriousness of life.

The early romance authors figured that out a long time ago. People were making fun of the Fabio covers and the amnesia plots, but meanwhile, a lot of readers were having a helluva good time.

For me, I’m kind of circling back to these kinds of stories as a reader. For many years, it’s been hard to turn off my “writer brain” and just experience a story as a reader. I wanted deep characterization and a tightly-woven plot. I wanted a story to be fresh and original. In other words, I got snobby and picky about it, lol. (And I think that’s partly because the romance genre is constantly defending itself from the world calling its books cheesy or bodice rippers, so writers can get a bit of a chip on their shoulder about it. Like, hey, look, there are some amazingly fantastic books here and some writers doing really smart and interesting things!)

And I still like all those smart and interesting things in a romance. I will still seek those books out. But…I think there’s also room for the bonkers and the ridiculous. There’s room to not take everything So. Very. Seriously.

Which means I’m learning to turn off my “this is ridiculous” voice and am just leaning into how a story or a movie makes me feel. Did I have fun? Great. That’s all that matters.

Because couldn’t we all use a little more fun? A little more silly?

So having said all that, I’m not giving this week’s movie an official star rating, just sharing my thoughts. :)

Romantic Movie Marathon Review

Title: The Knight Before Christmas

Release date: November 21, 2019

Where to Watch:  Netflix

Starring: Vanessa Hudgens (Brooke) and Josh Whitehouse (Sir Cole)

Official description: A modern-day romance with a medieval twist. A medieval English knight is magically transported to present day where he ends up falling for a high school science teacher.

My description: Sir Cole, a handsome medieval knight does a kind act and gets sent on a quest, ending up in modern times. He lands at a Christmas village in a small town and people assume he’s in costume. The heroine accidentally injures him (hate when that happens!) and assumes his weird questions/behavior are due to amnesia (sure!) and lets him stay in her guest house (because that’s what you do with crazy strangers who are wielding swords, you know, as long as they’re hot. If not, it’s off to the Hampton Inn for you, mister.) He can’t return to his own time until he fulfills his quest, but he doesn’t know what it is, so Brooke is going to help him—and try not to fall in love because…dude’s hot but kind of from another century. Long-distance relationships are tough, y’all.

My Review 

1 . Is it actually a romance?

Yes

2 . Romantic tropes 

Time-travel, knight in shining armor, small town, fish out of water, fairy tale elements, heart of gold heroine, and a nod to amnesia

3 . Sweet or steamy?

sweet, like saccharine level sweet (think Hallmark Christmas movies). I was surprised to see it’s rated TV-14 but maybe because of Santa stuff?

4 . Swoonworthy love interest?

Sir Cole is a little goofy but he’s a knight with a knightly sense of duty and manners, which is charming. The British accent doesn’t hurt either. ;)

Plus, he has an exceptionally handsome horse.

5 . Would I want to be friends with the main character?

Sure, she was likable if a little too “heart of gold”

6 . Does it show its age?

only a few years old so no

7 . Would I rewatch?

no

8 . Favorite moments:

I don’t seem to get tired of the “what is this strange thing” part of time travel stories where the person from the past is perplexed by all of our technology.

9 . Thoughts: 

I almost turned it off in the first fifteen minutes, but I’m glad I stuck with it. It was funny and cute, and it didn’t make you worry. (The “black” moment had barely a whisper of gray.) If you like a sweet, small town, Christmas romance with a dude who knows how to wield a sword and calls his woman “milady”, this might be your vibe.

10 . Rating:

If you need some silly fun in your life, try it out.

***

The podcast

This week on the RAD Reading podcast, we’re talking What-to-Read decision fatigue. AND you can find a free downloadable copy of my TBR spreadsheet in the show notes.

Listen to the episode

That’s all I’ve got for you today. I’d love to hear what “ridiculous” shows, movies, or books bring you joy! Leave a comment and let me know! :)

Have a great weekend!

Roni

*Book links are affiliate links (Amazon, Libro.fm, and/or Bookshop.org), which means I earn a small commission if you buy through my links. Also, I receive advanced listening copies of some audiobooks through Libro.fm’s Influencer program. However, all reviews and opinions are my own.