Le prince et moi

I've been reading the comments from everyone on the movie. I just wanted to say a couple of things. First off, if one turns off their analytical side and simply watch the movie, they might be surprised.

Every female, regardless of age, secretly wants to be loved like the classic 'princess' stories. It's not so much about a princess as it is about the real love between two people.

These kinds of stories still exist simply because we yearn for them, even if it is buried deep inside us.

The most important part of the movie is not location, government or royalty, it is the journey these two 'people' take after meeting. The setting for each before meeting sets up the movie and introduces them, flaws and all to us.

this is simply a love story that transcends time and age. Watch it with emotion instead of analyzing it.

How many romantic films exist where the principal couple has not experienced their first kiss until one hour into the story? "The Prince & Me" is one rare example of such a film, and I admired the careful development of the main relationship, as performed by the likable Julia Stiles and Luke Mably.

Above all, I admired the focus on courtship, a concept that is arguably a dying breed in our culture today. In fact, I cannot recall a film where there was so little emphasis on sex and so many carefully developed scenes where we see emotional chemistry building between the main characters, Paige Morgan, a young pre-med student in Wisconsin, and the Danish prince Edward who calls himself Eddie.

"The Prince & Me" brings back the old-style Hollywood romances. In fact, I kept thinking of the wonderful picture "The Swan" featuring the luminous Grace Kelly, the dour Alec Guinness, and the dashing Louis Jourdan. Although "The Prince & Me" may not merit the status of a classic romance like "The Swan," it was nonetheless a breath of film-going fresh air among so many cynical films dealing with contemporary relationships. There was a nice touch with the pacing of the film and the close-ups provided by director Martha Coolidge. The scenes shot in Denmark were splendid and added an aura of magic to the main love relationship.

According to her IMDb biography, Julia Stiles has been an English major at Columbia in addition to juggling an impressive acting career. The scenes in "The Prince & Me" set at the University of Wisconsin, Manitowac provided a convincing portrayal of academic life, especially the coaching session in Shakespeare. The realism in the routine activities at college helped to make the story as a whole convincing and evoked the feeling that a relationship like that of Paige and Eddie might really exist.

This film is a rather light and enjoyable trifle and it does have a very fine performance from Julia Stiles, some very pretty scenery (Prague standing in for Copenhagen), and Miranda Richardson (as the Prince's mom).

There is a certain irony to the whole film given that the real Crown Prince of Denmark, HKH Kronprins Frederik, married a commoner from a far flung place...in fact my home country Australia in 2004. (Which has resulted in every Australian becoming an expert on Danish royalty!)

But back to the film ...the girl meets boy, girl hates boy, boy falls for girl, girl falls for boy, is as old a story as there is but the film does manage to tell its story with some refreshing touches. Paige's girlfriends are a great collection and the the Prince's valet is very funny.

By no means a great film but enjoyable way to waste two hours.

But just don't expect to learn anything about modern monarchy in Denmark!!!

"The Prince & Me" is a simple, warm-hearted love story. It's almost like another kind of Julia Stiles "10 Things I Hate About You" romantic comedy, but posh. Truthfully I think "10 Things I Hate About You" is the better film because of the inestimable Heath Ledger, but also because Julia Stiles "tempestuous b--tch" character shines brighter. In "The Prince & Me," Julia Stiles is as smart and witty but more conservative and mild tempered. Even still, Julia Stiles gives a strong performance with many affectionate and heart breaking moments in subtle changes of expression. Julia Stiles acting skills has certainly matured here but I wish she had a larger and more differentiated role to fill than she does.

Anyway, "The Prince & Me" is a predictable but genuine romantic comedy and very funny in parts (I.e. when the prince's butler becomes crack-addicted to video games). Very watchable.

One quibble is the ending which seems to go on for a long time. A good twist to show what happens after "happily ever after," but almost like it belongs in the next movie.

Other than that, a fine, conventional, but pleasing film.

The prince and me was a pretty typical film, with a worn out plot. Not to mention an annoying view on Danes. Some of the things that bothered me on what I mentioned above, was the names in particular. Edward, Rosalind, Arabella...they could at the least have tried giving the names a Danish feel. And there is the fact that Denmark does NOT have a king, we have a queen! The Queens husband is not called a king, but a prince, because he married into the royal family, and a king will always range higher then a queen. Sorry, that was besides the point......Anyway this movie does have some quite funny moments that makes it worth watching, and I kinda liked the scene at the table with Edward telling Paige's brothers a few things about Denmark. Another thing that made me smile, was that they hadn't abandoned the Danish language completely, but had inserted some speech with it. 4.5/10 stars.