C+
Taking a movie like the “Lord of the Rings,” inserting a plethora of raunchy sex jokes, f-bombs and snippets of soft-core porn and then smoking a bowl may sound like a hilarious way to kill an afternoon. Yet “Your Highness” takes this premise and somehow manages to turn it into a barely funny film that even its talented cast can’t redeem.
Co-written by Danny McBride and Ben Best (“Superbad”), “Highness” is a story and quasi-parody that centers on McBride’s character of Thadeous — a pouting, selfish, underachieving prince living in his brother’s shadow. Fabious, played by James Franco is the typical pretty-boy knight who gallantly slays monsters and rescues damsels.
Zooey Deschanel plays his love interest, the virginal Belladonna, but is quickly captured by the evil wizard Leezar (Justin Theroux) on their wedding day. So naturally, Fabious must save his lover and ropes in the most unqualified of quest-mate, you guessed it, his bum of a brother Thadeous, and they set out on a magical journey full of battles, monsters and, inexplicably, boatloads of topless women. Along the way they meet the independent and sexy Isabel, played by Oscar-winner Natalie Portman, who catches the eye of Thadeous.
The most aggravating thing about this movie is just how close it comes to being really funny. Franco hysterically plays the charming prince with honesty and intensity in a way that parallels Will Arnett’s absurd intensity as Gob in “Arrested Development.” The relationship between the two brothers is honest and endearing. When the film does parody fantasy films, cleverly playing up the absurdity of magic and throws in anomalies such as a robotic bird companion, mocking the movies’ own lack of consistency. And the all-star cast is good, but only Franco manages to make a poorly conceived script entertaining.
And then there’s the sheer volume of rape and molestation jokes that seem to be the foundation of this movie. The evil wizard steals Belladonna essentially to rape her and every other scene seems to be a preparation for the act as the two characters chat and make jokes about the approaching night — but that’s not all! Jokes about child molestation as well as adult molestation weasel their way in as well.Now tragedy is comedy and a joke can be crude or taboo, but it has to be funny enough to merit the content.
The movie has an upsetting amount of potential but lacks a concept and wit. It’s willingness to go low, real low, for a joke will amuse an audience for a couple of hours, but you’d be better off digging up that old “Shrek” DVD for a solid fantasy parody.
mwolfson@theeagleonline.com
