Your Highness

Your Highness

2011
Comedy
Rated: R
Running Time: 102 minutes
Starring: James Franco, Danny McBride, Zooey Deschanel, Natalie Portman, Justin Theroux
Directed By: David Gordon Green
Rating: 2 out of 10

Outline

Two unlikely heroes set on a quest to rescue a damsel in distress.

Review

As my eyes stared unblinking at the screen I found my mind wandering during this film. I was wondering what I should eat for dinner. I was wondering who was going to win the NBA championship. Last but not least I was wondering why Hollywood must hate the rest of the world when something like this gets made. Your Highness is a putrid attempt at comedy and easily is on my top ten worst movies list of 2011. This film is a simple tale that seemed to happen quite often during medieval times for some reason. Two brothers, one a courageous knight honored for chivalry and bravery. The other brother is a sad, good for nothing, coasting his way through life. They both need to prove themselves in vastly different ways to gain the respect of their father the King. The too trusting good knight Fabious is played by James Franco. Fabious’s humor comes from his trusting nature and simple outlook on life. The disappointment brother is named Thadeous played by Danny McBride. Thadeous’s humor comes from a potty mouth and dependence on weed. The two unlikely brothers must come together to rescue Fabious’s bride to be Belladonna (Deschanel) from the evil clutches of the wizard Leezar (Theroux). The film quickly degenerates into a stupid sex and drug reference type of movie that will get very little response from any type of viewer. Franco and McBride are usually very funny guys but never seem to get it going in this film. The film stays true to the time period and has the actors speaking with poorly practiced English accents. However there is a twist. The characters curse in nearly every sentence. This is actually a plus for the film and if the dialogue and jokes were stronger then the better this movie could have been. Although the characters and especially Thadeous overdo the swearing it sometimes works. One does not expect to hear swear words bandied about in this era so the odd time it will make you laugh. The film carries on with awkward fight scenes and strange encounters making it literally a struggle to keep going with the story. Unusual characters like a pedophile prophet and guys with no genitalia are thrown into this film with little thought to the outcome. The only positive I found with this film was the Wizard Leezar played by Justin Theroux. I am not sure if he was actually funny or just better than the other dregs in this film. However I wish he was in the film more because he actually made me laugh on occasion. The other supporting players in this film led by Natalie Portman but also included Zooey Deschanel and Damian Lewis were mostly forgettable on screen. It is clear director David Gordon Green likes his movies with sex and more notably drug references but he should clearly tone it down a bit. When the films obvious double entendre title is the funniest thing about it you know this is something not to look forward to. I am going to have to give this movie a big pass as to put in proper speech. Twill be many a fort night ere I see a dung pile as grandiose as this one.

T Factor + If you like stupid obvious drug and sex jokes this could score higher on the rating scale.

T Factor – If you do not find Danny McBride a funny guy this could score lower on the rating scale.

If you liked this film reel recommendations: Pineapple Express, Half Baked