Customer Reviews

The Prince and Me (Full Screen Edition)

5 star:		(61)
4 star:		(30)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Wisconsin-born Paige Morgan (Julia Stiles) thinks boys are a distraction. In fact, she never dates, preferring to keep her mind on her pre-med college studies: she's worked hard for everything she's got, having grown up poor. Prince Edvard "Eddie" of Denmark (Luke Mably) has the opposite problem: he has grown up surrounded by wealth and privilege (having been groomed since birth to become the next ruler of his country). Only thing is: he's not ready for the responsibility! The Prince rebels against his parent's upbringing, deciding to go to America to meet girls.

Along with his trusty servant/bodyguard Soren (Ben Miller), the Prince enrolls as a student at a Wisconsin college; they arrive and immediately set off to the local hangout to find some of these Wisconsin girls. It is there that Eddie runs into Paige, who is working; she dislikes him from the start, as he acts as less than a gentleman to her. When Eddie pairs up with her as her lab partner the next day in class, she's not about to change her mind about him...after all, he's just a rich playboy. Isn't he?

Although Eddie started off with Paige on the wrong foot, he quickly realizes that she is the girl for him: the ONLY girl for him. He apologizes for his earlier behavior and the two become friends, and then something more. But when Paige discovers that her Eddie is actually Prince Edvard Valdemar Dangaard, soon to be 51st ruler of Denmark, she is understandably upset that he lied to her...but will she forgive him? And if she does, will the Prince be able to convince his parents to accept a poor Wisconsin girl as the future queen of Denmark?

There are hardly any content issues, for those of you concerned about taking your kids to see the film: there is hardly any language (one swear word, and one use of "bloody"), some time spent at the local student hangout (has a few drinks at a bar), and a brief scene where a girl and guy are kissing and his shirt comes off, but they are interuppted.

From the beautiful scenery and dream-like sequence of events (that come across VERY realistically), this romantic film is definitely worth the watch! The chemistry and love that blossoms between Paige and Eddie is so sweet and believable that you can't help falling in love with the characters themselves, and wishing that every girl could end up with their Prince Charming and live happily ever after!

Julia Stiles and Luke Mably were awesome. I saw this movie and loved it. It is the type of movie that can make you smile. I enjoy movies that can make you smile. As for the weather... WHO CARES? The weather added to the storyline, how manytimes has Cinderella gone to the ball in snow? I can't wait till this movie comes out on DVD. The story was like a real fairy tale. Tell me one girl who does not want to get wrapped up in a fairy tale once in a while? We are raised from the beginning of childhood life that fairy tales are just that... in this movie Paige is given the chance to live a true fairy tale. After realizing that she also remembers her dream, she remembers she will never give that up for anyone, not even prince charming. Paige is going to change the world. I loved that aspect of the movie. I want to see women who want to change the world and will work as hard as they have to in order to do so. I dont know, I guess I am just a hopeless romantic or something. But really, I think I just enjoy smiling every once in a while in the world we live in. Go see this movie, It was a real love story to lift your spirts.

First, a little background of myself - I'm an U.S. Air Force officer, with background in both physical sciences & project management. I tend to steer towards movies that either make me think, or invoke emotional responses (interpret at will). I also gravitate toward movies that have fantastic soundtracks.

I first sought this movie out because my wife enjoys cute love movies, and because Julia Stiles plays roles in love stories quite well. The premise itself is a cute one - two people who are made for each other question their lifelong chosen destinies. It touches topics such as class (rich vs. poor), values (working for every penny vs. being spoiled), destiny (pre-destined vs. taking the bull by the horns), to name a few.

I shed tears as I watched this movie with my wife. Not because it's depressing, but because the movie strongly reminded me how lucky I am to be married to my wife, and how a combination of perfect timing, maturity, and perspective got me to recognize true love at the right time in my life. In essence, the movie reminded me how my wife (just a friend @ point of enlightenment) saved me from pursuing an insular, safe life.

Ok enough about my runin with Kleenex -

You can easily watch this with teenagers (most boys won't sit still for this movie). It reinforces the notion that true love can be had for those who are willing to accept it. In short, it's a cheery movie you'd want to have out for viewing, when you have friends/family over for the weekend.

Miranda Richardson and James Fox play the role of queen & king quite nicely. They create a good level of tension with the prince, displaying tension that just begs to be resolved before the movie ends. Eliza Bennett hams up the role of the younger sibling princess quite nicely - especially playing a Gameboy while dressed elegantly.

Alberta Watson, as Julia Stiles' character mother, reminds the audience that parents can be a great source of wisdom. The rest of the supporting cast play roles of people you'd probably find in normal life - college dorm settings mostly.

The movie does a great job of showing how the two main characters grow and change for the better. Rather than seeing one person become a different person within one frame, you can easily see the progression over the entire stretch of the movie.

The movie's soundtrack is fantastic. It's a good synthesis of new and vintage materiel - I learned who Tom Waits was due to listening to the music. Plus, I discovered another fantastic contemporary composer, Jennie Muskett.

I gave this movie 5 stars, because it reminded me how lucky I am to be married to my wife (made me think), got me to shed tears (the emotional response), and because I discovered Tom Waits and Jennie Muskett along the way (the soundtrack thing). Plus, I ended up buying it too, because I don't tire of watching it with my wife.

Disclaimer: I am not this film's target audience. This is a film that was made for 15-30 year old women, and I'm a man of the same age bracket.

There are three kinds of chick flicks out there. There are the kind that men don't mind watching and may secretly kind of like (see Sleepless in Seattle), the kind that men could do without but will tolerate (see Ghost) and the kind that guys hate (see How to Make an American Quilt). This film falls into the middle category.

The Prince and Me has what seems to me to be your basic chick flick plot - girl is independent, meets arrogant guy, girl changes guy, guy changes girl, they fall in love. The twist here, of course, is that the guy happens to be royalty so there's a fairy tale quality about the end of the film. The plot is not the major problem here, as it does have a couple of interesting twists.

The problem is the execution of the first 30 minutes of the film, which are disjointed and uninteresting. There is a substantial amount of time spent setting up Paige (Julia Stiles)as independent and driven, and some of the scenes dealing with this topic are forced and repetitive. The same is true for the Prince (Luke Mably), though his scenes are considerably more interesting due to comic relief provided by Soren (Ben Miller), the prince's man servant. Overall, the beginning of the film is poorly acted, directed, and written, and frankly was not interesting enough to hold my attention.

This is a shame, because after the Prince and Paige fall in love the film picks up, the writing is crisper, and the direction seems to be better. The subplot with Soren becoming addicted to XBox is absolutely hysterical even though it only consumes a few seconds of screen time. Once the scene shifts to Denmark the film becomes much more engaging, though the last five minutes, with a cop-out to please the mass market, are disappointing.

The DVD has a couple of special features worth watching. The commentary from director Martha Coolidge (who directed one of my favorite films, Real Genius) is above average and has a nice mix of technical film insider stuff about camera angles and insightful commentary into some of the characters. There is a featurette about the lawnmower racing sequence (really, the guy's highlight to the film) that is definately worth watching. The gag reel is average, as are the other featurettes, though it does provide the alternate (read original) ending.

Overall, this film gets 0 stars for the first 30 minutes, three stars thereafter, and 4 for the DVD features. Guys won't like the film unless they're on a date, but they'll at least be able to tolerate it if they can get past the first 30 minutes.

This movie is a particular favorite of mine. Equal part comedy, romance and drama the movie features some wonderful performances (especially from the supporting cast) and enough light-hearted air to stop the drama from being too overbearing.
The movie centers around the romance between a Danish prince and a medical student at the University of Wisconsin.
Seems the Danish prince (Edward) is a little restless and (in an apparent reference to the antics of Britain's Princes William and Harry) is feeling the pressure of the expectations lofted upon him and engaging in car races and dalliances with a number of girls.
Following a particularly embarrassing incident and in the belief that American girls are wild and exhibitionist, Edward persuades his parents to allow him to attend classes in Wisconsin. His intentions are however hardly noble. In fact his persistence in visiting America's Dairyland comes from a television commercial for one of those Girls Gone Wild-type videos that gives Edward the impression that Wisconsin girls are easy - boy is he in for a shock.
It's not long after arriving at Wisconsin that he realizes that the campus is not populated entirely by free-wheeling party girls and in fact the one girl who catches his eye in particular is a very studious medical student (played with warmth and charm by Julia Stiles).
There is a real wicked streak of comedy in here, mostly supplied by the supporting characters such as Edward's bemused and disdainful man servant or his sloth-some roommate. But, what this movie does best is romantic comedy.
Of particular joy is watching Edward grow into the responsibilities of being a future King as his father (played by the amazing James Fox) slips further into decline.
For those who enjoyed movies such as "Boys and Girls" or "Down to You" (which also featured Stiles) then this is a movie you will enjoy. It's warm, charming and uplifting.

Just watched it and I think it's a really good movie. It also has the potential of being a strong romantic hit. In simple terms, the cast was well characterized and balanced, specially Stiles and Mably with thier stunning performances. It's one of the best of Stiles, along side MLS. I even thought Miller's character served the purpose really well. The Limo's were awesome and the Royal exposure was amazingly neat, with the expection of the accents.

Yet, In my opinion, the music throughout the movie is what kept it alive. It defenitly illustrated the blend of comedy and romance. In that perspective Martha Coolidge deserves credit for a superb articulation of the romantic storyline with a passionate approach.

However, one thing that I found to be quite disappointing is the ending. For those who have watched it would know that even though anticipated, it was not the kind of ending one could have expected in a such great story. It was rather fast and inversed to what it was right throughout the movie.

Nevertheless, it was a good one, and I would reccommend it to anyone who loves romantic comedies. and trust me, after watching it, you will defenitely fall in love with Marc Cohn's song.

I saw this cute film a weekend before opening, during a local sneak preview, and let me say, it was great!

Wisconsin-born Paige Morgan (Julia Stiles) thinks boys are a distraction. In fact, she never dates, preferring to keep her mind on her pre-med college studies: she's worked hard for everything she's got! Prince Edvard "Eddie" of Denmark (Luke Mably) has the opposite problem: he has grown up surrounded by wealth and privilege (having been groomed since birth to become the next ruler of his country). Only thing is: he's not ready for the responsibility!

Along with his trusty servant/bodyguard Soren (Ben Miller), the Prince enrolls as a student at a Wisconsin college, in order to meet girls; he immediately sets off to the local hangout to find some. It is there that he runs into Paige, who is working; she dislikes him from the start, as he acts as less than a gentleman to her. When Eddie comes along the next day and pairs up with her as her lab partner, she's not about to change her mind about him...after all, he's just a rich playboy. Isn't he?

Although Eddie quickly realizes that she is the girl for him: the ONLY girl for him. He apologizes for his earlier behavior and the two become friends, and then something more. But when Paige discovers that her Eddie is actually Prince Edvard Valdemar Dangaard, soon to be 51st ruler of Denmark, she is understandably upset that he lied to her...but will she forgive him? And if she does, will the Prince be able to convince his parents to accept a poor Wisconsin girl as the future queen of Denmark?

Running from the paparazzi, exploding lab chemicals, lawnmower races, and a royal procession, this movie is full of cute moments of excitement and fun! For those of you with kids that are worried about content, there is barely any language in the film (one "bloody" and one "I'm going to kick your a**"), and other than a few scenes in a bar hangout and some make-out scenses, it is very family friendly!

From the beautiful scenery and dream-like sequence of events (that come across VERY realistically), this romantic film is definitely worth the watch! The chemistry and love that blossoms between Paige and Eddie is so sweet and believable that you can't help falling in love with the characters themselves, and wishing that every girl could end up with their Prince Charming and live happily ever after!

I'm a sucker for romance and the Cinderella story is one of my favorites - however, there are just so many ways this tale can be told before it gets really old. Director Martha Coolidge gets off to a good start, updating the fairy tale to the 21st century, with our prince from Denmark, not Hamlet(ish) at all, but a very decisive, spoiled and sexy Prince Edvard Valdemar Dangaard (Luke Mably). He really looks royal and is very hunky. Paige Morgan, (played by the lovely Julia Stiles), is the love interest and a premed student at the University of Wisconsin. She's a farm girl who is very focused on a career in medicine with, perhaps, a post-grad stint working with "Doctors Without Borders." Paige has a plan, and early marriage is not on her to-do list. Edvard, bored in Denmark, views a TV commercial, "Wild Girls of the Midwest," and decides that a year at a Wisconsin university might be just the experience to help him mature and settle down. He plans to attend classes undercover, so to speak. He definitely does not want the royal treatment.

OK! Predictable, but still amusing and entertaining, the studious female meets Eddie, playboy prince incognito, and there are some delightful scenes before the film begins to move downhill. Let it suffice to say/write that once the setting moves from the US to Denmark there are few surprises. The romance loses its luster (for me, not them). The impediments to the romance are so predictable. There is no pizzazz, energy, flair. This is a stale tale, and even a terrific cast cannot improve it much.

I am surprised at my lukewarm response to "The Prince And Me." I love princess flicks. Julia Stiles is a favorite, and she doesn't disappoint here. The problem is what she is given to work with lacks freshness and originality. The screenwriting is merely average. I mean, were any cliches ommited from the script? Ms. Stiles does brighten the screen, as do many in the cast - Prince Eddy is a real winner, and so is Soren (Ben Miller), the prince's valet. But there is just no zing! Sorry, but I can't recommend this with more than an average rating.
JANA

As a medical resident who very much related to Paige's character, this movie really got to me. Julia and Luke had the best on screen chemistry I've seen in a girly, chick-flick in a long time. They lit the screen and brought their romance to life for me and I just absolutely fell in love with this movie. Not only is it a great modern day Cinderella story, but it gives the positive encouragement, that you can follow your heart, and your dreams at the same time when and if the love is real.

I did not watch this movie thinking it would be theatrical greatness, but given the number of impressive people in the cast (Richardson, Fox, Stiles), I was expecting it to be much better than it was. The story is a fairy tale, to be sure, but if we are to believe the script of this movie, Denmark is about to have a flakey, uneducated, lazy jerk ascend to the throne. There is growth in the prince's character, but it's not done in a believeable manner. The prince is a disinterested punk who spends state meetings drawing cars on his agenda, yet after one semester in Wisconsin, he is able to negotiate settlements to stop strikes. Perhaps I took the movie too seriously, but if I were from Denmark, I would find this depiction of my country and people insulting. I'm not certain that the people of Wisconsin could have been too thrilled either. All in all, even for what it's supposed to be (a fairy tale story aimed at 13 year old girls), the story is simply too cliche, which is disappointing considering it has some wonderful people in the cast. I'm usually able to suspend my belief when watching movies like this and enjoy them, but this one just doesn't make it. Two stars for the casting choices, but I wouldn't reccomend purchasing this movie. It's more of a rental.... with a coupon.