Bawdy, foul mouthed and tremendous fun, this fairy tale is definitely not for children. Yes, the king has two sons: one a hero, the other a jealous, lazy, cowardly loser. The good son has already killed the evil cyclops and rescued the damsel he is about to marry, but an evil wizard recaptures her. The quest is on, but the king orders his lout of a son to go with the noble son on his quest to re-save the damsel. Nice basic structure on which to hang the tale. But there are constant sexual references, endless cursing, naked women and men, sexual situations. And it's all absolutely necessary to the plot which raises the standard fantasy to a new level of raucous hysteria. Even the sailors in the audience will say, 'Did he really say that?' 'Did that actually happen?' 'Did I just see what I saw when they undressed that funny looking man?' 'Is that really hanging around the Prince's neck?'
The words flow effortlessly from the actors' mouths as if they were all native New Yorkers. Curses are an integral part of the vocabulary in the Big Apple and mostly used to accentuate mood; it's a natural part of conversation. Contrarily, in my previous review of 'Paul,' I stated the use of foul language was a joke that was repeated ad infinitum nto express a woman's liberation from organized religion. But that rather unimaginative joke caused an R rating which eliminated a large potential audience, and it just wasn't worth it. But in 'Your Highness,' imbuing the otherwise Medieval dialogue with modern epithets was daring, shocking and humorous. The R rating is firmly embedded in plot in any case.
Aside from dialogue and bawdy behavior, the Scottish hillsides where the film was shot is as beautiful and magical as Middle Earth or New Zealand. The detailed sets keep the eye involved. The story takes us to unexpected places filled with unforeseen dangers and laughs. The characters, based on fairytale icons, break out of the mold to be fresh, interesting and engaging. Okay, I want a copy of this film for my personal library.
Your Highness
Director: David Gordon Green
Writer: Danny McBride, Ben Best
Cast: Danny McBride, James Franco, Natalie Portman, Zooey Deschanel, Justin Theroux, Toby Jones, Charles Dance, Rasmus Hardiker
Time: 102 min.
Rating: R
Opening April 8 at the AMC Van Ness, Century 9, Presidio, Sundance Kabuki in San Francisco
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