Your Highness - (April 8, 2011): R
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Opening Weekend Box-Office: #6 with $9,360,020
Domestic Box-Office Gross to-date: $16,520,995
Gross Revenue: $16,560,491
Budget: $50 million
Director: David Gordon Green
As I mentioned in the Short and Sweet review, I have been a fan of Danny McBride’s films for quite some time, but he has also built a considerable fanbase on the smaller screen as the lead of HBO’s immensely popular series Eastbound & Down. Based on these past successes, it wasn’t that imaginable to think that McBride could handle leading his own feature comedy, especially one in which he also had writer and executive producer credits. James Franco seemed like a natural choice to work with McBride, as he has demonstrated comedic talent in the past, even if that perception was weakened by his god-awful performance while hosting the Oscars. I myself was most curious about Natalie Portman’s inclusion …sure, she looked hot enough in the previews to make me forget as she had thoroughly unnerved me by pulling out fingernails and sprouting feathers in Black Swan, but that was no guarantee that she could hold her own in a comedy. Either way, I was looking for a good laugh and loved that trailers played off of Franco and Portman’s critical accolades (Best Actor nominee/Best Actress winner) being matched against McBride’s less-recognized brand of humor (one trailer did point out that he was 5th grade class president…way to go); in the end, Your Highness definitely seemed worth seeing.
Borrowing medieval fantasy elements from everything along the lines of The Lord of the Rings or Dungeons and Dragons, Your Highness introduces audiences to royal siblings Thadeous (McBride) and Fabious (Franco). The typical mythology hero, Fabious is brave and honorable, while Thadeous is crude, lazy, and almost consistently stoned; though the two get along well enough, Thadeous still seeks some way to prove himself, and he gets his chance when Fabious’ virgin bride Belladonna (Zooey Deschanel) is kidnapped by the evil sorcerer Leezar (Justin Theroux). Accompanied by Thadeous’ faithful manservant Courtney (Rasmus Hardiker), the two brothers set off to save Belladonna and face everything from nymphs and bandits to dragons and wizards, quickly learning that they must retrieve the fabled Sword of Unicorn to defeat Leezar. Things take an interesting turn when the adventurers encounter the mysterious and beautiful warrior Isabel (Portman), who is also determined to defeat Leezar and instantaneously gains Thadeous’ attention. Despite his lack of enthusiasm (often exclaiming: “This quest sucks!”), Thadeous soon finds that he must move beyond his old tendencies and discover the hero within.
If the above plot description sounds slightly ridiculous, then your instincts are dead-on, but that just means that there was plenty of material to be used for considerable humor. Granted, few of the jokes were overtly clever, but that didn’t stop me from consistently laughing for roughly ninety percent of the film…McBride would often go off on rants that were nothing short of hysterical. I have heard rumors that a majority of the film was ad-libbed, with the actors only having a rough idea of a plot outline, and though some story-telling elements clearly suffered, the end result was still funny and immensely quotable. Another noteworthy element involved the special effects and set designs present…just as Pineapple Express had legitimate elements of a true action film, Your Highness oftentimes channeled some impressive references and tributes to medieval mythology. The inclusion of Zooey Deschanel and Natalie Portman was also enjoyable, as both were sexy and surprising funny, so that element alone is sure to fill some seats. Still, plenty of weak elements have prevented many from fully appreciating the stupid and crude humor of Your Highness.
For as much as I laughed during Your Highness, I couldn’t completely ignore the extremely weak and lazy story present, a problem that is only compounded when you consider that the film’s humor did take some time to get off the ground…within the first ten minutes, I considered that I may have made a mistake in buying a ticket for this “comedy.” Sure, Danny McBride was able to make the end product funny enough, but I feel that the overall project would have greatly benefited from some refined narrative work. In even admitting this criticism though, I feel compelled to qualify it by stating that no one should have gone into this film with high expectations or the belief that any plot element would be taken seriously. The title alone should have been enough to prepare audiences for the tone that would be presented, and along those same lines I am surprised that some critics have been complaining about the overtly crude humor. Your Highness is an R-rated comedy that did everything in its power to earn such a classification, and as long as you accept that, then there shouldn’t be too many surprises.
Unfortunately, McBride’s fanbase may not be as large as Universal Pictures initially believed, debuting at a disappointing sixth place with just over $9 million. With a production budget of $50 million, limited audience interest that is sure to plummet in the face of the upcoming Summer Movie Season, and a virtually non-existent overseas presence, the studio may regret putting so much money into those impressive effects and set pieces I mentioned earlier. Admittedly, an R-rated comedy was going to have trouble when pit against the carryover from Hop’s opening weekend and the new releases of the more family-friendly Arthur, inspiring Soul Surfer, or thrilling Hanna, but I still expected the star power of Franco and Portman to draw a larger crowd. Maybe the subject matter just appealed to too limited of a crowd…as I said earlier, college males have plenty to enjoy with this film, but I wouldn’t recommend that any of them bring along a girlfriend. Don’t expect too much, and I’m sure you’ll delight in quoting Your Highness to others, but beyond that, there isn’t much present that you need to rush to the theater to see.
Overall Recommendation: Medium
