Le prince et moi

"The Prince & Me" is likely to be skewered by critics for being entirely predictable. Meet Paige. Pre-med student who has ambitions of seeing the world with Doctors Without Borders. Meet Edvard. Danish crown prince who wants to go to America, Wisconsin particularly, because he sees one of those "Girls of Wisconsin" videos. He enrolls at Paige's school as an exchange student named "Eddie". He's incognito because he wants to avoid the papparazzi. Do you think he'll get along with Paige at first? Think they'll fall for each other? Think the fairytale romance won't blossom? If you doubt any of this, then you A) have been living under a rock B) have never seen a romantic comedy in your life. "The Prince & Me", which I was dragged off to see by my girlfriend, *is* that predictable. There's hardly a plot twist in sight. Everything happens according to the book. Girl meets prince in disguise. Girl falls for prince. Prince reveals identity. Girl gets mad. Girl realizes she loves prince. Goes off to neverland to marry prince. Etc., etc.

But I figured if I could stay awake through this movie (and I did) it had to have some merit. And it does.

The "Danish" royal family in this film is a thinly-veiled parody of the British royals. The old queen with the aversion to her kin marrying commoners, the playboy prince...you get the point. This part of the film adds a touch of realism to the proceedings. I kind of liked that. I've seen royalty portrayed in other movies that I've been forced to watch (eg. King Ralph, Princess Diaries) and they couldn't have been more off the mark.

There's some genuinely amusing (but not laugh-out loud) moments in the film too.

I won't spoil them for you here. But if you're a guy, and your girlfriend is begging you to see this, you might want to give it a chance.

7/10

You may look at the preview and think, "Great, they just basically ruined the ending for me." which is what I though when I saw it. However, I took a chance renting it, because I figured it would be an entertaining way to pass the time. I was right. I not only found it entertaining, but by the end, as corny is it may sound for a film like this, it did leave me guessing a little as to what would happen.

Although I don't usually care for Julia Stiles, I found her to be delightful in this piece, and the right person to play the part. The role of the handsome Scandanavian Prince, was also correctly casted, and was a heartthrob a minute. The two actors worked very well together, and I very much enjoyed the film, finding it sweet, romantic and just enough of light and heavy to balance it out nicely.

Ovearll it's a film that certainly wouldn't have been nominated for any big awards, but it's cute, and in the end a pretty predictable film. I recommend it to the ones out there who like the Cinderella-ish stories. It's kind of like that.

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.

A nice easy watch. Very predictable but enjoyable.

Almost 20 years old, and i couldn't help but laugh at the uncanny similarities between what's going on in the film and currently with Meghan Markle. Perhaps she should have watched this film, and seen that joining a European royal family isn't without difficulties. Harry said in his book Meghan was upset as she was a hugger, the American in this film was a hugger and it was pulled up in a jokey context.

Would I watch again? No. Am I glad I gave it a go? Yes. Julia Stiles is lovely and loved all her films from back in the day, not sure how I've never seen this before.

"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.