Prince Charming

A fornicating prince from the 15th century and his servant are punished by being turned into frogs for all eternity, unless he can get a maiden to kiss him and marry.

Although made for TV (2001), "Prince Charming" is easily just as good as 2007's theatrically-released "Enchanted," which has a similar plot. I'm sure "Enchanted" was inspired by it.

Christina Applegate plays the New York City "maiden" who befriends the frogmen. Bernadette Peters, in a smaller role, is her usual charismatic, beautiful self.

Everything clicks for a fun, entertaining movie.

The film runs a short-but-sweet 87 minutes and was shot in Brampton, Ontario, and New York City.

GRADE: B+

You can argue this is a made-for-TV movie, say that fantasy (somewhat, family too) genre isn't for you, or that is a well know story so why bother to watch it. I can understand you, but although I had some reserves like you, I watched it and I surprised myself.

Made-for-TV movie = Low budget? More often than not, right, but here you get nice scenes (some with CGI, to animate frogs) and great middle-age costumes. Even for fantasy, the writer developed the story as real as he could, and that was the key to make myself comfortable and enjoy the movie and Martin Short good performance. In addition, if you love, like, worship Christina Applegate, this is your chance to see her in her true nature: being a princess. But if you don't, because you just consider her a Married-With-Children-bimbo, then this is your possibility to reconsider that. She's acting better and better since "Jesse." By the way, thumbs up as well to Sean Maguire (Prince 'Charming' John) and Bernadette Peters (as Margo) for their parts.

The most compelling thing about this movie is the proper timing of the director to portray the story. You watch it don't caring how much time remain and time does fly. For me, that's another sign of an enjoyable movie. So, if you want to laugh a bit, if you like fantasy or fairly tales, or if you declare yourself as a romantic, this could be a good movie for you. I give it *** of ***** (* = soup? again?, ** = better than looking at the wall, *** = within most people acceptable limits, **** = now we are talking, ***** = a dream come true.)

This was such a fun movie! A delightful comedy that truly caught me off guard. Maguire and Short make this tale believable, there is no doubt. Performances were exceptional from all really. Peters is as always perfect. Thumbs up also to the details like the kilt skirt.

Before watching this movie I hadn't had too high an opinion of Christina Applegate's acting talent. However I thought she was terrific here....especially in the scene where she and the Prince are in the museum and they see his portrait. To me her acting in that scene was truly magical -- it ranks as one of my favorite movie moments. This movie is severely underrated -- perhaps because it was a made-for-TV production. The first 20 minutes or so admittedly are a bit uneven, but then it really takes off. For the fullest enjoyment one must remember that it is a fairy tale, after all, and hence requires the requisite suspension of belief. The acting overall is absolutely superb: Bernadette Peters is at her best; Billy Connolly plays his role to perfection; the actor who plays the prince (whose name escapes me!) should be more famous than he is, as he was spot-on; Martin Short was typically wonderful and just right; and nearly all of the other actors were tailor-made for their roles.

I loved this movie so much. It had the fairly tale come true dust sprinkled all over it. My heart did a flip at the amazing all star cast. Martin Short is funny and wonderful as always. I love anything with Bernadette Peters in it. She is full of spunk and beauty. The actor Sean Maguire was the perfect prince charming. He had the accent, the body, the hair, and the charm all women secretly dream about. The story line was great, how all their lives and problems intertwined with each others. But as always they lived happily ever after. I loved the chase seen through the park. It was your classic damsel in distress with the hunky rescuer. The only thing missing was that Bernadette Peters didn't sing. If you love happy endings with a modern day flair then this is the movie for you. It's one lovely sweet kiss of happiness.