YOUR HIGHNESS

YOUR HIGHNESS (2011)
US
Directed by David Gordon Green

CAST:
Danny McBride - Thadeous
James Franco - Fabious
Natalie Portman - Isabel

PLOT:
     When Prince Fabious's bride is kidnapped, he goes on a quest to rescue her... accompanied by his lazy useless brother Thadeous.

REVIEW:
     I'm all for comedies, and when you add in the mixture of a genre film it could be comedy gold if done right. Yet it could also turn out to be completely terrible as well. The thing about comedy is that it's person centric. What could be slightly amusing to one person, another person might find to be completely hilarious. Or it could be completely boring. And if what I read about Your Highness is true, that they ab-libbed most of the lines, this could be a complete train wreck of a movie or it could be a complete work of genius.

     Let's start with the main reason why this movie was released in the first place, Natalie Portman and James Franco. Since Portman won an Oscar and Franco got nominated for one, the studio thought that they could cash in on their success. I'm just going to say that, if this movie was released before the Oscars, I doubt Portman would have won and Franco more than likely wouldn't have hosted. After her brilliant turn in Black Swan, Portman slips back into her acting mode she used in a widely known sci-fi series. Thankfully though, she doesn't stay that way the whole movie as her ability does shine through every so often, just not enough though, and she should really not have used an accent for her character. And Franco's acting is just there. Even though he plays more of a stoner muscle head in the film, he overdoes it and it actually hurts his character. Granted he's not the best actor around, but I've seen him actually try before. What's it say when Danny McBride out acts both of the big stars by just acting like a stoner?

     This movie is more of a send up of medieval movie types than a straight up comedy as it pokes fun at the usual standards in those films and unlike parodies of recent years, Your Highness stays away from rewriting memorable scenes from those past movies and instead tries to write it's own story. It works in parts and in other parts it just falls flat. The beginning of the movie is just brilliant with McBrides character in the land of the Dwarves and about to be hang for seducing their King's wife. After that the story just meanders about for a while.  While some of the scenes stick out more than others, such as the  herb smoking pervert scene, gems like that make this movie, the film lags in other in other scenes such as when McBride and Franco spy on Portman bathing. I should mention that this movie is perverted, and everything is done to go along with that feel. It doesn't make the movie bad, it's just that some jokes just don't work like they should and the word fuck doesn't have to be used every other word either as it doesn't make the line funny to anyone over the age of 13.

     While comedy is subjective, not everyone will like this movie. There are so many dick jokes in it, it's hard not to believe this movie isn't from the 1980s as some of the humor is straight from the raunchy comedies of that time. It's not a bad movie, alas it's not a great movie either. What it is is fun. Even though I wasn't expecting to, I actually started having fun while watching this even with the grating fake accents the actors used and woefully underused supporting cast. I will give the movie praise for trying to be original in parts even though other scenes ruin what was built up. This is one of those movies you watch with friends and just have fun with and enjoy the complete absurd nature of it.

BEST DEATH:
      The decollating of the witch made one.

BEST LINE:
      You're making a fool of yourself. Handle your shit Fabious, please.

FUN FACTS:
     According to director David Gordon Green, the dialogue was entirely improvised with only a written outline by writer Ben Best and actor Danny McBride.

     The wrap party for the over 600-member cast and crew was held on-set at 'The Paint Shed' in the Titanic Quarter of the Belfast Harland & Wolff Shipyard on October 17, 2009. The party mirrored the medieval theme of the film, with a menu featuring venison and suckling pig.