THE PRINCE AND ME (2004) 1 1/2 stars out of 4. Starring Julia Stiles, Luke
Mably, Ben Miller, Miranda Richardson, James Fox, Joanne Baron and Zachary
Knighton. Directed by Martha Coolidge. Rated PG. Running time: Approx. 100
mins.
Unlike many of the actresses in her age group, Julia Stiles exudes an
intelligence that makes her irresistible.
Yet this fine young actress seems to find herself in movies that fail to truly
utilize this spark.
Her latest feature, The Prince and Me, is a prime example.
On the old cliche-meter this formulaic romantic comedy would rate at least a
9.5 out of 10.
Supposedly a modern-day fairy tale, this is one movie that will put you to
sleep way before you ever get to "... and they lived happily ever after."
Or do they?
Paige Morgan (Stiles) is a Wisconsin farm girl with a brains and beauty. She
is a practical young woman who has her life all planned out. A pre-med track
will put her on the road to fulfill her dream of working with Doctors Without
Borders.
The only road Danish Prince Edward (Luke Mably) knows is the one on which he
races one of the royal family's sports cars. He's a playboy and a scandalous
disgrace to his parents, the king and queen.
After viewing one of those girls gone wild videos, in which the young women of
the Midwest are highlighted, Edward decides he must go, incognito, of course,
to a university in the United States to broaden his education.
So, with his faithful manservant Soren (Ben Miller) tagging along, Edward, now
known simply as Eddie, finds himself at the same school as Paige.
Of course they meet cute: He asks her to take off her top, she sprays him down
to cool him off. And thus a romance begins. They are next thrust together as
chem-lab partners. What he is doing in an advanced chemistry class is never
made clear, except as an excuse by the writers to throw him and Paige together.
You see where this is going. The Prince and Me fails to stay true to its
characters.
The level-headed Paige all of a sudden falls in love with Eddie, and we never
really understand how or why, except that he helps her with her Shakespeare
course.
Eddie's transformation from spoiled royal gadabout to concerned young man
plays just as phony.
The characters lack consistency; they are manipulated like puppets merely to
serve the whims of the writers.
Stiles does the best she can with the material handed her, but she can do so
much more and so much better.
Some smart filmmaker should dust off some vintage Katharine Hepburn material
such as Adam's Rib, Holiday or The Philadelphia Story and throw it Stiles' way.
She deserves better than such tripe as The Prince and Me.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, Ind. He
can be reached by e-mail at bbloom@journalandcourier.com or at
bob@bloomink.com. Bloom's reviews also can be found at the Journal and Courier
Web site: www.jconline.com
Other reviews by Bloom can be found at the Rottentomatoes Web site:
www.rottentomatoes.com or at the Internet Movie Database Web site:
www.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Bob+Bloom
========== X-RAMR-ID: 37497 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 1269177 X-RT-TitleID: 1131162 X-RT-SourceID: 872 X-RT-AuthorID: 1363 X-RT-RatingText: 1.5/4
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