"Your Highness" delivers forgettable laughs

By James Hill III

There are only so many sex and marijuana jokes to be made, and although I certainly laughed throughout the premiere of "Your Highness" last Thursday, it came nowhere near breaking any new comedic ground.

Over the past couple months, Santa Clara students made a strong push to bring the premiere of "Your Highness," as well as its  stars James Franco, Natalie Portman, and Danny McBride, to our campus.  

Though our creative tactics didn't quite win the competition, we managed to reach fourth place, which won us a free screening of the film at the AMC Mercado 20 last Thursday.

A few friends and I arrived around 6:15 for the 9:00 showing, and found out that I had greatly overestimated the potential line. Unlike the free screening of Catfish, a small documentary which had a long line two hours before the film started, there was no line for "Your Highness."  

So while we went to get some food, sophomore Mimi Sanicola was first in line with her friends.  

"I think the atmosphere was one of excitement because SCU doesn't win big things like this often," she said.

When it comes to Santa Clara in competitions, even a fourth place finish is greatly appreciated.

By the time we casually walked in around eight, the theater had begun to fill up. Freshman Alec Shaffer commended the marketing strategy of the contest and said that the film was "pretty funny", adding that "the atmosphere was definitely part of [the humor] as well."  

Sanicola added, "what made it even funnier were the comments from the crowd."

I specifically remember an enthusiastic "Oh yeah!" from freshman Luke Bowen that received laughs and applause as Natalie Portman's character dove into a stream.

However, all of the atmosphere in the world wouldn't have been able to save the experience if the film itself wasn't up to par. And in that aspect, "Your Highness" was perfectly serviceable. Even if it was ultimately nothing special, it had many funny lines and moments.

The film itself was a raunchy take on the traditional swords and sandals, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" or "The Princess Bride" style comedy. Director David Gordon Green ("Pineapple Express") reunited with James Franco, who plays hailed Prince Fabious in an unnamed, ancient kingdom. His jealous, lazy brother Thadeous (Danny McBride) is forced to go on a quest with Fabious to rescue Fabious' beloved fiancée, Belladonna (Zooey Deschanel) from the evil wizard Leezar (Justin Theroux). The motley crew, accompanied by Thadeous' ‘friend' Courtney (a male) travel through the forest and countryside, fending off betrayal and perversion every which way.

Recent Oscar winner Natalie Portman helps spice up the film when she comes in as Isabel, a dangerous warrior also on a quest to kill Leezar.  As the movie rumbles to its predictable conclusion, there definitely are funny moments, many from the quality performance of Theroux.  

Though I disagree with Andrew O'Hehir of Salon.com who said that he "considered the possibility that "Your Highness" was the worst movie ever made," I do agree with the assessment of sophomore Diana Hanger, who also attended the screening.

"The presence of boisterous and/or inebriated college students made the raucous atmosphere more enjoyable.  The movie itself was extremely, inappropriately hilarious, but lacked substance."  

Deeper substance as a comedy could have made "Your Highness" great; instead, it settles for simply humorous.

Contact James at jhill@scu.edu or at (408) 554-1918.