As you may have read in my review of Red Riding Hood, I was supposed to see a different film the night I saw that. The film I was meant to see was Your Highness. I actually ended up seeing Your Highness the next day so there wasn't a huge wait involved.
I had a mixture of emotions towards the trailer, I like Natalie Portman, Zooey Deschanel and James Franco but I hadn't seen Danny McBride in anything before (nothing that had made an impression anyway), so I didn't know if he was any good? The film also seemed to be something of a spoof and I don't really like spoof films (Scary Movie and Hot Shots are not really my cup of tea). But then I thought, maybe, it might turn out to be like The Princess Bride, a parody of classic medieval swashbucklers. It has actors I like, and the the trailer did make me laugh at least once. All this combined made me decide that Your Highness would be a go.
A comedy of two brothers, one handsome and noble, Fabious (Franco)
and one who's...not so much, Thadeous (McBride) who are thrown together when
Fabious' bride to be, Belladonna (Deschanel), is stolen from him during the wedding ceremony
by the evil sorcerer Leezar (Theroux).
Whilst on the quest they meet the fearless and beautiful Isabel (Porman)
who Thadeous takes a shine to. Thus making him step up and become a hero like his brother. Something he hopes will impress her.
My mixed emotions towards the trailer continue even now towards the finished film. McBride is perfect for the role of Thadeous, but that doesn't mean that he's particularly good. It just means that he fits the role of being rather annoying and not all that funny. What is funny though, is that the lack of comedy can be largely blamed on McBride as he co-wrote the script.
I was also quite disappointed with the way Zooey Deschanel's character was portrayed as a simpleton. There are other, more effective ways to get laughs, boys! Surprisingly though, I loved Natalie Portman's participation in the film. After she played such a serious role in Black Swan it was nice to see her do something silly which she seemed like she had a lot of fun doing. Which just leaves me to comment on Franco and Theroux. Franco is good but nothing special and Theroux just leaves you feeling a little bit dirty. I'm not sure if that's what the filmmakers were going for but it's not pleasant.
All in all, an OK film but not tremendously funny - the best bits are in the trailer - and certainly not the new Princess Bride. 6 out of 10.
Viewing Date - 16th April 2011
UK Release Date - 13th April 2011
Cast Overview:
Danny McBride ~ Thadeous
James Franco ~ Fabious
Natalie Portman ~ Isabel
Justin Theroux ~ Leezar
Zooey Deschanel ~ Belladonna
Rasmus Hardiker ~ Courtney
Toby Jones ~ Julie
Charles Dance ~ King Tallious
Damian Lewis ~ Boremont
Director ~ David Gordon Green
Writer(s) ~ Danny McBride and Ben Best
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