Review: Your Highness

Plot: When Prince Fabious (James Franco) has his bride to be Belladonna (Zooey Deschanel) abducted by the evil wizard Leezar, (Justin Theroux) his lazy weed smoking brother Thadeous (Danny McBride) is given an ultimatum: help Fabious recover his fiance or face banishment. With the help of fellow warrior Isabel (Natalie Portman) the three embark on a dangerous and strange journey.

Review: What do you get when you combine an Oscar winner, an Oscar nominee, an up and coming comic, and the director of the hilarious 2008 film Pineapple Express? Unfortunately a tepid and occasionally funny film.

When I recently saw Your Highness at the movies I was surprised to find I was the only one in the theater. (Incidentally this has never happened to me.) However, as the film progressed I realized why that may be the case. Your Highness is a stumbling and ill conceived movie from director David Gordon Green. Full of gratuitous T & A, random penis jokes, and overly long, I could count the number of times I laughed on one hand.

While the plot is decent, it would have been nice if screenwriters Danny McBride and Ben Best had more than the occasional funny line in the film. What's shocking is that the two helped co-create the very funny HBO television show Eastbound & Down. I'm at a loss as to why their typical spot on comedy didn't translate to the big screen.

One of the key problems in Your Highness is that it relies too much on gag or gross out humor. Scenes such as Thadeous and Fabious's visit to the Great Wise Wizard or Thadeous taking a trophy from the groin region after he slays a minotaur, are more disturbing than they are funny. Additionally, it seemed like Green and cinematographer Tim Orr focused more on production value and establishing memorable epic shots such as Leezar's kidnapping of Belladonna or the battle in an arena with a five headed dragon. While the production value was excellent, it seemed more apt for a high budget fantasy film rather than a stoner fantasy spoof. In that sense it is kind of the anti-Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Your Highness redeems itself in part through the acting of Danny McBride and Zooey Daschanel. Despite the below average script McBride's Thadeous was often funny as the wise cracking slacker prince. The scene where he finally obtains the Sword of Unicorn (don't ask) is surprisingly funny and somewhat poignant. Daschanel as the clueless Belladonna succeeds as well. Watching her try to use a fork at a feast was hilarious.

While Franco and Portman were solid as Fabious and Isabel, their performances weren't anything overwhelming. Both seemed a little too straight edged for the role. Sadly both actors best moments came when neither spoke; Franco's facial expression when he is frozen by Leezar's magic and Portman's posterior when she's swimming in a pond.

Although Your Highness has its moments, most of the film fell flat. With all the expectations I had going in, considering the people involved, Your Highness is easily the most disappointing film of 2011 so far.

My rating: 4/10