The Prince And Me [DVD] [2004]

The prince in this case is Edvard Valdemar Dangaard (Luke Mably), who is too busy enjoying the good life and all the women who cling to him everyone he goes to spend much time dealing with the fact he is the heir to the throne of Denmark. He is apparently so shallow that a tape of "Girls Gone Wild" focusing on college coeds in Wisconsin is enough to make him fly off to the U.S.A. to enroll at a college and get a dorm room that he can share with a roommate and still have room for his faithful servant Soren (Ben Miller). Meanwhile, Paige Morgan (Julia Stiles), a hard working pre-med student who is determined to get into Johns Hopkins and is apparently the last unengaged girl in her farm town back home in dairy country.

Once Eddie, as the prince know wants to be called, shows up on campus Paige is the woman that he is constantly running into, culminating with their faithful coupling as lab partners in a science course. This does not bode well for her grade in that course given Eddie's inability to show up on time for class, but eventually he starts to hold his own. Besides, Paige the science wiz is having trouble with her Shakespeare course (an ironic idea given the fact Stiles has done update versions of "The Taming of the Shrew" and "Othello") and Eddie likes to quote from the Bard as a way for making up for an apparently inability to come up with anything bright to say on his own.

These two are going to hate each other and then they are going to fall in love. Then she is going to find out who he really is and that is going to cause problems for a while. He is going to visit her farm and she is going to visit his castle. His parents are going to have something to say about her. She is going to have to decide between career and family. It is so hard for this sort of plot line to get away from all of the Cinderella cliches that it is easy to lose sight of some of the more interesting twists in this particular version of the tale and the fact that there are some charming moments. In terms of the later I will point to what may be the most romantic way of offering a girl a ring that I can have ever seen.

Unfortunately when "The Prince and Me" gets to the most interesting part, which deals with what sort of queen is needed in a country like Denmark in the 21st century, the movie is about over. I understand that this movie is targeted at teenage girls who want to believe in the fantasy that they can find their own Prince Charming, even if he is not the heir to a real European throne, and that such an audience is not interested in the material practice of the contemporary monarchy. But one of the things I liked about this movie was the idea that Paige forces Eddie to grow up so that he is actually interested in being a good monarch and helping his country. This is a good thing, because his ailing father (Edward Fox) has to abdicate his crown just as a strike is about to cripple the country.

Besides, this issue is a concern of Eddie's mother (Miranda Richardson), who has to revise her initial opinion about Paige. But the happy ever after here has to do with the romance and not the state of Denmark and I actually give this film points for not having a big wedding as the obvious grand finale. The chief attraction is Stiles, who cannot help but communicate intelligence as an actress. Fortunately the script does not force her to do any of the dumb things that often happen to such characters; that all happens to her prince. This is much more her film than his, and it is believable that she has a conflict of the head and the heart at the end. There are enough sweet moments and Stiles is definitely likeable so it is easy to give this film one more star than the horrid "A Cinderella Story," which came out that same year.

He met a girl who stood up to me, and initially rejected his advances. The challenges of school work drew them together and they became friends and eventually an item. Anymore more fact will spoil it for you.

However it's an easy watch after a long hard week, you do not have to think much and it has a feel good feeling at the end of it.