SCREEN
Film Feature
The Lowness of Your Highness By John DeVore, Pulse Film Critic
C
omedy is hard. There is no other movie going experience that can be so utterly unwatchable, so terrifyingly misguided, so unabashedly awful as a pitiful comic film. At the same time, when they are done well, the experience is something more than enjoyable; a good comedy can make a summer. But, on the whole, I dread new comedies. As shown by last year’s painful Grown Ups, a bad comedy can make an hour seem like eons. I would rather spend four days standing in line at the DMV than sit though another Adam Sandler “comedy.” He’s given up on quality and I’ve given up on him. Even if the script is poor, comedians of Sandler’s caliber can put forth minimal effort in order to ensure that the film will be at least average. But there needs to be a script. Your Highness, this week’s new fantasy comedy featuring Eastbound and Down’s Danny McBride is full of effort—and missing a writer. There are small moments of humor, large sections of boredom, and copious amounts of profanity. There isn’t much else. McBride plays Thaddeous, wayward prince of a faraway land who has a predilection for getting high and behaving poorly. His brother Fabious (James Franco) is the opposite; he is dashing, skilled, and noble. Fabious has recently returned from his latest quest, this time with a fair maiden he rescued from a Cyclops. Unfortunately, she is stolen by an evil wizard for a nefarious plot.
All of this was covered by Mel Brooks in Robin Hood: Men in Tights, which is one of the weaker Brooks films. In fact, there are jokes here that are ripped off from “Men in Tights” nearly word for word. If the master of the spoof couldn’t make this type of film effective, Danny McBride has no chance. Even excellent actors like Franco, Natalie Portman, and Zooey Deschanel can’t improve this movie. Your Highness isn’t quite sure what it wants to be. Clearly, the filmmakers love fantasy; so much so that the focus on humor is lost. This might be because, according to director David Gordon Green, all of the dialogue was improvised. Again, I believe that good comedy is hard. The best stand-up is carefully crafted, well thought out, and well rehearsed. The fantasy elements in Your Highness work better than the jokes because they were written down beforehand. I’m not saying that improvisation doesn’t have its place in comedy; Judd Apatow films indicate otherwise. However, out-of-context foul language and scatological humor are only funny when you’re 12 or when you’re high. There are some good moments. There are occasional glimpses of wit and charm. If I had to guess, these moments were scripted and inserted after the fact. But I will say that the filmmakers made a genuine effort to entertain and be true to their vision. The movie was filmed on location in Northern Ireland, making the scenery and cinematography absolutely stunning. The sets and costum-
“There are small moments of humor, large sections of boredom, and copious amounts of profanity. There isn’t much else.” The king orders Thaddeous and Fabious to retrieve the maiden and kill the wizard. If this sounds boring, I assure you it is. The characters are stereotypes and the plot derivative. If you tossed in a few drug and dick jokes, some nudity, and a couple of pratfalls, you can probably imagine the entire film.
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The Pulse | Volume 8, Issue 15 | April 14, 2011 | www.chattanoogapulse.com
ing were all very well done and the effects and fight scenes were adequate. But I can’t think of a specific moment where I laughed out loud; mostly it was just a slight chuckle here and there. This is the hardest type of film to critique. Your Highness belongs to a long line of comedy films that are entirely forgettable. I thought a lot about Mel Brooks movies while I watched the actors muddle though the scenery. I wondered where the good comedy has gone. More than that, where are all the good comedic actors? Will Ferrell and Steve Carell have oversaturated the market with their own particular brand of awkward, sometimes hard to watch, silliness. Russell Brand is bearable in small doses, but completely obnoxious in a full-length feature. Who else is there? Kevin James? Adam Sandler? I’m not interested in boring family comedies. Zack Galafinakis has promise but will eventually go the same way as Ferrell and Carell. I’m only 29, and maybe I’m just too old for this stuff, but I really miss Gene Wilder. Your Highness Directed by David Gordon Green Starring Natalie Portman, James Franco, Danny McBride Rated R Running time: 1 hour, 42 minutes