Concept comedy has been faltering as of late. With the likes of Year One and Land of the Lost assaulting the comedy genre with a poopy stench, it feels like spending money on an expensive comedy is a foolish gamble for most studios. Obviously a great concept can come along and light the box office on fire, but most of these comedic concepts don’t have the power or wit to be anything beyond a last minute Saturday Night Live sketch. Unfortunately, the recently released Your Highness, despite its attempts, would’ve been better off if it was five minutes and not one hundred.
Starring Danny McBride as the oafish prince Thadeous and James Franco as his dashing brother Fabious, Your Highness is a comedy filled with renaissance riffs and modern day spliffs. Fabious is heir to his father’s kingdom and he makes a hobby out of rescuing maidens from impending doom. Thadeous is only concerned with nailing women and getting high, so a modern day hero that’s trapped in a time period where action and ambition pave the way to respect. Despite their differences, Thadeous and Fabious love one another and yearn to be like each other. Thadeous gets his chance to be like his brother when Fabious’ soon to be wife, Belladonna (an underused Zooey Deschanel) is kidnapped by the magically inclined Leezar (Justin Theroux). Thadeous is semi-unwillingly thrown into a quest with his brother Fabious as they venture across the land and face half-assed special effects and boorish entrapments. Why I even bothered to detail the plot for this is beyond me considering the film feels like a set of vignettes thinly woven together. Nonetheless, Fabious and Thadeous move from location to location as they meet an assortment of colorful characters and a cavalcade of jokes that fall flat.
Things become a little more interesting when Natalie Portman shows up as a vengeful beauty that assists our warriors on their quest to defeat Leezar, but the novelty of seeing Natalie Portman slaying behemoths wanes quickly, much like the whole production. One would think that the combination of McBride and Franco would carry the bulk of the film, but they’re oddly disengaged. This is especially pertinent to Franco whose level of energy and charisma disappear as the film moves along. Surprisingly, the most consistent performer in Your Highness is Justin Theroux who constantly delivers the film’s best lines. One in particular, which revolves around turning the word “fuck” into a seismic event, had me laughing heartily and one that reverberates to this date. Theroux’s the only one that realizes he’s in a concept that is beyond absurd, and he capitalizes on it. This, in conjunction with a great sight gag revolving around a Minotaur’s penis and an awkwardly humorous scene with a pedophilic Yoda-type, is one of few moments where Your Highness made an impact.
Otherwise, Your Highness is anchored down to the depths of mediocrity by muddled special effects and disapprovingly shot action sequences by director David Gordon Green. I can certainly respect the attempts that were made in this film, but the film is awful at its worst, and mildly amusing at its best.
No comments:
Post a Comment