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![This adolescent vision of the medieval fantasy genre is 110 minutes of vulgarity, genital humour and Natalie Portman bathing in a thong. A sensitive arthouse film this is not. By <a href="http://sharpformen.com/author/andrew-hunter/">Andrew Hunter</a><div id='nr_fo_top_of_post'></div><p><em>Pineapple Express </em>director Joseph-Gordon Green and longtime film school amigo Danny McBride team up with James Franco again for an unapologetic trashing of the fairytale film variety. You know, where hot, young damsels are captured by evil wizards, studly princes with well-coiffed hair journey across the land to save them, and pot-smoking wise wizards trade mystical counsel for sexual favours. That old chestnut.</p>
<p>The half-baked story follows Thadeous (McBride), a selfish, irresponsible and mischief-making prince, who is in every possible way inferior to his older and prettier brother, Fabious (Franco). Fabious returns to the castle from one of his valiant quests with the beautiful, virginal and socially inept Belladonna (Zooey Deschanel), who he conveniently plans to wed the following day. Life gets sticky for the “ous” brothers when the evil sorcerer Leezar (Justin Theroux) kidnaps Belladonna during said wedding in order to fulfil a prophecy involving the alignment of two moons and gaining ultimate power. Or something like that. Given an ultimatum by his father, Thadeous, with manservant Courtney (Rasmus Hardiker) in tow, accompanies his brother on his totally wicked quest. Hilarious hijinks and naked Amazons ensue.</p>
<p>Perhaps the unlikely trio’s most worthy opposition comes in the form of Isabel (Natalie Portman), a beautiful and mysterious archer/warrior chick who has a chip on her shoulder against Leezar. And while it’s not a role that screams Portman, we’re totally down with her participating in more comedies because, well, the oscar-winner is <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpMPFGBtE7Q" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.youtube.com']);">funny</a>. A beautiful actress who can do comedy? What?</p>
<p>What is enjoyable about <em>Your Highness</em>, aside from Ms. Portman’s glorious bathing scene and the occasional well-placed F-bomb, is how it effectively incorporates the classic hero’s journey structure; the call to adventure, the road of trials, crossing the return threshold and almost everything in between, while still being funny. In other words: it’s an effective satire.</p>
<p>In terms of the film’s acting performances, McBride pulls off the oaf-like and mullet-rocking Thadeous easily. The role isn’t much of a stretch for Mr. Kenny Powers, though an English accent might be. Contrastingly, it becomes noticeable how thespians Portman and Franco hold their breath when it came to their acting talents for the sake of comedy. As funny as these two accomplished actors were in their roles, one has to wonder if they were the right casting choices for a stoner comedy, or at least <em>this</em> stoner comedy. Honourable mentions go to Justin Theroux and Rasmus Hardiker, whose supporting performances as the pixie dust-snorting sorcerer Leezar and the pathetically loyal manservant Courtney, respectively, are guilty of scene-stealing on multiple occasions.</p>
<p>Surprisingly, <em>Your Highness </em>is nothing if not original. Green does a first-rate job of creating a shameless, genital-obsessed and low-brow humour action-adventure-comedy that, in many ways, is a breath of fresh air. If you like your brand of humour to originate from below the waistline, this film is a must-see.</p>
<div id='nr_fo_bot_of_post'></div> <span id="pty_trigger"></span> Sharp at the Movies: Your Highness](http://sharpformen.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/YH7re-sized.jpg)