Your Highness

Your Highness

After the success of Pineapple Express, director David Gordon Green and actors Danny McBride and James Franco decided to take a risk - let's make a rated-R fantasy comedy, something that is just as down and dirty as their first film together, but this time with dragons.  The result was almost a complete box office flop.  Maybe Green and McBride misjudged their audience; Your Highness was catering to the same crowd that enjoyed Pineapple Express and that's not necessarily the audience that cares much for swords and sorcery, even when there is weed involved...

Thadeous (McBride) and Fabious (Franco) are princes of the realm, but they couldn't be more different.  Fabious is brave and charismatic, beloved by the entire kingdom.  Thadeous, on the other hand, is a complete loser who is committed to a life of leisure, recreational drugs, and torturing his manservant, Courtney (Rasmus Hardiker).  When Fabious' fiance, Belladonna (New Girl's Zooey Deschanel) is kidnapped by an evil wizard Leezar (Justin Theroux, American Psycho), the two brothers must team up on the ultimate quest to rescue the girl, defeat the wizard, and save the kingdom.  Along the way, they of course run into a whole slew of characters, including a badass warrior, Isabel (Natalie Portman) who is on a quest of her own.

Overall, the movie is a bit of a mixed bag.  It is nowhere near as bad as its thrashing at the box office would suggest.  For one thing, the cast is great and throw themselves into the insanity with relish.  I expected fine comedy from the leads, but I was surprised to also see more serious actors such as Toby Jones (Captain America), Charles Dance (Game of Thrones) and Damien Lewis (Band of Brothers) making fine contributions to the craziness.  Everyone looks like they are having a great time, which of course makes the movie more enjoyable.

I suppose that maybe the cast and crew were having so much fun that they didn't think through the movie enough. The storyline is amusing and the number of possibilities is endless, but Your Highness is really just a series of naughty jokes, one after another after another.  Some of them I have to admit are hilarious (especially a handful of really raunchy jokes related to a minotaur they battle in a labyrinth), but way too many of them are misfires.  It is a bit of a surprise, actually, considering that much of the primaries were brought over from Pineapple Express, which deftly mixed the raunch with some genuine wit and cleverness.  I just feel that there are so many missed opportunities to poke fun at the genre here.  Perhaps David Gordon Green should have let Justin Theroux have a hand in the script. In addition to being a fine comedian (and he does make a very funny villain here), Theroux is a very witty writer, having worked on Iron Man 2 and Tropic Thunder.  Maybe giving Theroux a whack at the script would have helped.

So there you go.  Your Highness is not awful, but it is also nowhere near as good as it could have been.  Overall, it's just okay.  At some point, it will be making the rounds on FX.  I think that would be a good time to check it out. 


BEST LINE:
Leezar to Belladonna: "I'm just not attracted to you right now!!!"

MVP:
With great comedians like McBride, Franco, and Deschanel running around, I was surprised that they were all outgunned by Rasmus Hardiker as Courtney, Thadeous' hapless manservant.  I have never heard of this dude before, but he is terrific, bringing the right amount of absurd pathetic loyalty to the role.  This is a hard role to play.  Hapless manservants are often the comic relief in other films, and I have always found them to be annoying.  I am also generally bothered by their unending loyalty, despite how mean or selfish the master is.  I just never really buy it.  But I never once doubted Courtney's unconditional love for his master.  And he just nails it.  He's terrific.  Plus, he can make Triangle Face, which I think is hilarious, even if Thadeous is terrified of it!

TRIVIA: 
This movie came out of a little game Danny McBride and director David Gordon Green would play.  Someone would name a random title and the other would come up with a story to match it.  Someone suggested "Your Highness" and the storyline suggested was about "a prince who gets stoned and fights dragons."

Now, most importantly, not meaning to make a shameless plug, but I think it relates to what we are talking about, and especially about what does not work about Your Highness.  My brother wrote a book!  He has been working on it for the better part of a decade and it attempts the same type of parody as Your Highness, only with a real sense of wit and cleverness.  While Your Highness tends to fall back on raunch, this book genuinely tackles the cliches of the fantasy genre and twists their funny bone.  The book is called The Armpit of Evil and it is super inexpensive on Amazon (only $2.99!!), so I think you should all check it out!!!  I am also including the link to Your Highness, but I highly recommend you gravitate towards Armpit instead.  Here is the link:

Tropic Thunder

Tropic Thunder

I approached Tropic Thunder on video with some hesitance. All too often, I've seen a comedy in the theater and upon watching it a second time, I realize that its really just okay (Wedding Crashers and Knocked Up are good examples). I really enjoyed Tropic Thunder in the theater, but how would it hold up a second time around?

Thankfully, the movie not only holds up well. It might be even better than the first go-around!

Tropic Thunder is about a group of spoiled and annoying actors who are trying to make the most expensive Vietnam war movie ever made. If you haven't seen it, I don't really want to ruin the plot much more than that - but check out the terrific comedic cast you'll be watching: Ben Stiller is Tugg Speedman, a fading action star who is trying to prove his dramatic chops; Robert Downey, Jr. is Kirk Lazarus, the acclaimed Australian actor who takes his method acting too far when he takes the role of the African-American platoon sergeant; Jack Black is the drug-addicted and raunchy comedian Jeff Portnoy; Jay Baruchel plays Kevin, a young hard-working actor trying to make a breakthrough; and Brandon T. Jackson is the rapper Alpa Cino (say it out loud). The platoon is joined by a terrific supporting cast that includes Matthew McConoughy, Nick Nolte, Danny McBride, Steve Coogan, and a surprise guest star I shouldn't ruin.

I should say the less you know about Tropic Thunder the better, but it is definitely more intelligent than you would think. Oh, it has its share of fart and sex jokes - most of them actually not that funny - and it also has a running gag about a previous film made by Speedman, called Simple Jack, that they just push too far. Luckily, even this gag has a great payoff at the end of the film, but it takes a long time to become worth the uncomfortable investment.

Other than that, this movie works equally as a parody of war movies, a post-modern ironic take on movie stars and studios, straight-up action movie, and gross-out comedy. It's a superbly built movie, well-written, and with excellent direction from Stiller (this is easily his best work behind the camera). A subtle, but crucial contribution is made by Oscar-winning John Toll as Director of Photography. Comedies are not supposed to look this good. But Stiller reached out to Toll, the eyes behind Braveheart, Last Samurai, and Thin Red Line, and the result is a lush, colorful, dynamic and EPIC atmosphere. A point most people might not notice unless it is pointed out to them, but a good percentage of Tropic Thunder's success is due to the superb look of the film. I should give some props to Theodore Shapiro, who crafts a score that gets the joke, treats the film as if it were a real war movie, and refuses to play up the comedy. The seriousness of the music makes the ridiculous actions onscreen even better.

The cast all performs to the top of their game. My favorite moments generally come from Robert Downey, Jr. In a role that should have been offensive, he ends up stealing almost every scene he's in. Part of the comedy is that he IS being incredibly offensive and everyone can see that except him. He's so lost in his character, he can't see that what he's doing is so wrong.

Enough said. This movie is a winner, a solid, well-conceived and performed comedic winner. I definitely think you should see it!

MVP: You know, I was trying to decide between Robert Downey, Jr. and John Toll, when I started watching the special features on the DVD. Star, co-writer, and director of the movie, Ben Stiller must have put tremendous amount of time and energy into masterminding this party. Nowhere is this more evident than in one of the DVD features - an entire mag of film is shown from beginning to end, featuring an exchange between Lazarus and Speedman. This is the big dramatic (comically dramatic) scene of the movie and the acting was super intense (comically intense), and watching Stiller incredibly focused and trying to stay in-character while trying to direct the Downey, Jr., keep his eye on the lighting, and pay attention to the million other things that I know happen on a film set...this must have been incredibly difficult! It made my decision clear - for pulling this madcap escapade off, including his directing-writing-starring hat trick, the MVP has to go to Stiller.

TRIVIA: As course, as much as I liked Stiller, there was one thing I felt seemed a bit off. Downey, Jr. is a method actor, so playing one is ironic and funny. There are similar ironic parallels with Jay Baruchel and Jack Black. So to keep that post-modern joke running, I always felt that they should have had a rapper playing Alpa Cino and an action star playing Speedman. Turns out they tried - Mos Def was offered Alpa Cino and the producers were thinking about Sylvestor Stallone or Keanu Reeves for Speedman. That would have been interesting.

Would it have been better, though? I don't know. Maybe not, actually. Stiller and Jackson were pretty terrific!

BEST LINE:

Speedman: I can't believe you people!

Lazarus: Wait! What do you mean "you people"?

Alpa Cino: What do YOU mean, "you people"?

OSCAR NOMINATIONS: Best Supporting Actor (Robert Downey, Jr.)