Your Highness - Puff, Puff, Pass?

It woulda been tough for you to miss a bus-stop, building or other ad space the last week with this bold image of a blood-shot, blinged-out McBride doing his best Puff the Magic Dragon impression to help create buzz for the opening weekend of Your Highness.  Seriously, every time the teaser poster caught my eye, I couldn't help but think-- will I really get to see a giant projection of Natalie Portman's nearly bare ass (in a thong) or will it just be a CG-granny pants? 

So it's Monday and the numbers call the film a bust being it didn't even hit $10 mil. with it's more than $50 million dollar price tag and highly-decorated Oscar nominee/winner cast.  But, you didn't come here to read all that shit right?!

Afterall, Your Highness heralds a 5th grade class Prez that dropped his first scribe work and leading role in a major motion picture?!!



The cast, creative and Universal Pictures should all be praised for their ambition on throwing out a film in this economic climate that is one part Princess Bride + two parts Conan / Beastmaster / Krull or anyother 80's sword & sorcery genre flick + a dash of Half Baked.  And when I say dash I mean more like a sprinkle.  Your Highness did have some in your face herb-al references that made me feel all green inside but it definitely held back on the imagination it could have truly went with.

I suppose when you openly flaunt an old wizard (Yoda-like) pedophile, follow with a forest full of nekkid Nymphs then show us a Minotaur dry humping poor lil' squire Courtney (brilliantly played by Rasmus Hardiker) full-frontal as highlights in the laugh track-- you really don't need to go out there in the whole-- I am high!-this is a stoner-movie-dood! drug-reference routine.

R-rated and you are already there.  Me...I was beyond entertained.  Your Highness no doubt will be looked at as a breakout film for Thadeous, I mean...Danny McBride both as an actor and producer. 

Truly appreciated the whole gender flip on the genre with Isabel(Portman) being the kick-ass hero, though they coulda given the always captivating Zooey Deschanel a bit more beyond the seemingly sad, damsel-in-distress role.  Hey, I am not complaining.  I did appreciate her Victoria Secret commercial spots that popped up here and there.  James Franco as the heroic but kinda gay Fabious brought it all together.

Props to the Director- David Gordon Green and the rest of the Pineapple Express alumni for delivering on a flick that is definitely a must see theatre experience for anyone that wants to be in with all of the raunchy-renaissance jokes.  And like their past project-- Green stressed that much of the film was improvisational, that after seeing it, makes sense that the talented cast all wanted to be a part of Your Highness.

Sure, Universal and other major studios may balk at bringing Green in for future big films, but I bet he has made some capital with the other side of the biz (yes, the actors!).  Oh and if you need more incentive to catch Your Highness now...no granny pants in the film! 



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big O