The Prince & Me (2004)

Director:

Martha Coolidge

Writers (WGA):

Mark Amin (story) and
Katherine Fugate (story) ...

Release Date:

2 April 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

Finding your inner princess can be such a royal pain.

Plot:

At a Wisconsin university, local farmer's daughter Paige Morgan is intrigued by odd Danish exchange student Edvard 'Eddie'...

Plot Keywords:

Sentimental | Melodrama | Medical Student | Opposites Attract | Bittersweet

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Julia Stiles	...	Paige Morgan
Luke Mably	...	Eddie / Prince Edvard
Ben Miller	...	Soren
Miranda Richardson	...	Queen Rosalind
James Fox	...	King Haraald
Alberta Watson	...	Amy Morgan
John Bourgeois	...	Ben Morgan
Zachary Knighton	...	John Morgan
Stephen O'Reilly	...	Mike Morgan (as Steve O'Reilly)
Elisabeth Waterston	...	Beth Curtis
Eliza Bennett	...	Princess Arabella
Devin Ratray	...	Scotty
Clare Preuss	...	Stacey
Yaani King	...	Amanda
Eddie Irvine	...	Himself

Also Known As:

The Prince & the Freshman (USA) (working title)
The Prince and Me (USA)

MPAA:

Rated PG for some sex-related material and language.

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

USA | Czech Republic

Language:

English | Danish | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Malaysia:U | South Korea:12 | Iceland:L | Australia:PG | Brazil:Livre | Germany:o.Al. | Netherlands:AL | Philippines:G | Singapore:PG | Switzerland:12 (canton of Zurich) | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Canada

Company:

Lions Gate Films

Trivia:

The driver that Eddie races with at the start of the film is Eddie Irvine, a professional race car driver in real life.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: For some reason, there is a portrait of George Washington on the wall in the Danish palace. It is visible in the scene when Paige breaks up with Edward during his coronation.

Quotes:

Paige: We did King Lear, now we're on the sonnets. Next it's Hamlet, which is about a whiny prince from Denmark. What does that have to do with reality?
Eddie: More than you think.
Paige: Well you're from Denmark. Do you even have princes?
Eddie: Yes, I think we do.

Movie Connections:

Features To Catch a Thief (1955)

Soundtrack:

March Guerriere

A Very Familiar Story

Roger Ebert actually gave "The Prince and Me" zero stars which seems a little harsh, as it does have a few universally enjoyable scenes and decent performances from almost the entire cast. Unfortunately they are saddled with a somewhat weak and completely predictable screenplay, and a premise that has been used and reused.

Ebert compares it unfavorably with "Win a Date With Tad Hamilton" where the same type of small town girl wins a date with a big Hollywood star, who then falls in love with her freshness and sincerity. She begins to struggle with the tedious real-life demands of what she thought would be a glamorous life. Others compare it to 1954's "The Student Prince" and its 1997 television remake, although not unfavorably as both productions are considered barely competent. I think it is most like "Coming to America", although it does not capture the humor and social commentary of that film. I'm sure that the producers of "The Prince and Me" drew considerable inspiration from the box office popularity of "Coming to America. Unfortunately they failed to follow its example and create a fictional monarchy, choosing instead to subject Denmark to the indignity of this silly story.

The story obviously satisfies some basic yearning in the human psyche, or at least the teenage female psyche. The most interesting thing about "The Prince and Me" is the inspired way they successfully expanded their target audience to include pre-teen girls. By casting Eliza Bennett (with apologies to Jane Austen) as the Princes's adoring little sister, Princess Arabella, they created a nice fantasy for this younger demographic. To her credit, Eliza brings a lot of much needed charm to the production.

The physical casting of the two leads is very good. Julia Stiles does not exude a lot of sensuality but fits the role of a brainy American college student, with ambitions to become a doctor. That Stiles is convincing as a smart and serious young woman helps convince us when Queen (Miranda Richardson) is eventually won over by her prospective daughter-in- law. Their changing relationship is the one plot element that you don't entirely see coming. And Luke Mably fits Americas idea of a young prince, looking much like those Windsor boys. While the pairings of Prince and little sister and of Queen and future Queen work exceptionally well, the Stiles-Mably relationship has no chemistry and seems terribly forced. So one just has to go with it and enjoy the other elements of the film.

Once the story moves to Copenhagen it gets better as they do a good job of presenting the entire experience from the point of view of Paige Morgan (Stiles). With this it actually improves on "Coming to America" and becomes much more like "Win a Date With Tad Hamilton".

This is one of those films where you can see every single plot development from a million miles away. Although that will make very little difference to it's target audience, others will find it makes much of the film a yawn-fest.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.