It seemed almost too good to be true when I first heard about it. A stoner comedy with James Franco and Danny McBride is pretty great in itself (as seen in PINEAPPLE EXPRESS), but throw in Manic Pixie Girl Godesses Zooey Deschanel and Natalie Portman, and you’ve got yourself a whole lot of awesome.
YOUR HIGHNESS isn’t quite as weed-centered as PINEAPPLE, despite the title, as it takes place in a medieval kingdom and follows the story of two prince brothers, one noble and one lazy (Franco and McBride). One of our very own readers worked their way into a test sceening and has filed a report about what they saw. So how about it? Does the concept live up to its potential?
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“YOUR HIGHNESS while not one of the great comedies of all-time is still a damn hilarious movie! The film is about a kingdom with two princes. There’s the eldest, Fabious (played by the talented James Franco), who is beloved by the entire kingdom and completes various quests making him the hero that he is. Then there’s the younger brother, Thadeous (played by the always amusing Danny McBride), who’s the lesser brother overshadowed by Fabious’ many accomplishments. Fabious attempts to wed a princess (played by the ever quirky Zooey Deschanel) he saved and she ends up being kidnapped and he must venture upon another quest to save his beloved-to-be.
Thadeous is forced to help his brother and along the way they get help from Natalie Portman’s Isabel (a Xena-like character) and of course action and hilarity ensue. Now that that’s out of the way, the movie is $#%&ing HIGH-lairious! Yeah, I typed it! The movie is ridiculously funny and has some great one liners. “If your …. is anything like my hand, we’ll have no problem!” Have fun and fill in the blank but that was just insanely funny.
The film is not as weed-centric as PINEAPPLE EXPRESS but still has some. The action once again is in abundance as well and one scene that sticks out in mind was a chariot chase and that was very intense. Nothing else noteworthy. When it comes to the performances Danny McrBride and James Franco have some excellent chemistry. The brother quarrels are very funny and James Franco shines as the naïve yet sweet younger brother. Danny McBride also did a great job.
The opening of the movie set the tone for everything. Zooey was… Zooey? She doesn’t have that much screen time and when she does she plays wait for it!… a quirky weird girl! Natalie Portman does a good job as well but you can’t help but wonder, with the eerie parallels why not hire Lucy Lawless if you have Xena in your movie? That’s all nitpicks though because the movie was a fun time and I enjoyed myself with all my buddies!”