We saw the 2004 film ‘The Prince and Me’ early in 2013 and had entirely forgotten what it was about. But the box said it was uplifting and ‘feel-good’, so it seemed like a good DVD to re-watch.
Julia Stiles is Paige, the main protagonist. She’s a hard working college student in the United States, hoping eventually to train as a doctor. She’s taking mostly science classes, and works in a bar to earn a bit of money. She’s more geeky than some of her friends, but likes to have fun too. She comes from a farm, with a loving and welcoming family.
Luke Mably is Eddy, who just happens to be the Crown Prince of Denmark. He’s a fast-driving womaniser who has little interest in politics or running his country, rather to the despair of his parents (Miranda Richardson and James Fox). He keeps trying different things, determined to ‘find himself’, but ends up in disgrace time and again.
Eddy happens to see a TV show about a university in the US where women routinely take their tops off - or so it seems. So he tells his parents he wants to study at this university. They agree unwillingly, and he says he will fund himself. Their only requirement is that Soren, his minder (Ben Miller) goes with him.
Eddy and Soren are rather unimpressed with student accommodation, particularly when they learn that they have to share a room with another student. Eddy wants to be incognito and insists that Soren stop addressing him as ‘your majesty’. But Soren keeps calling him ‘sir’, and cooks his breakfast in the room… although for some reason nobody seems to find this anything other than quirky.
When Eddy and Paige meet, it’s in a conflict scenario, as in traditional light romantic stories, and it takes a while for him to persuade her that he really does like her, and is not such a jerk as he appears. And their romance follows a fairly predictable path until they’re tracked down by the paparazzi….
The two main characters are okay, though I’m not sure I found either of them particularly believable. I didn’t quite understand why Eddy’s parents were so old - or at least late middle-aged, with his father in failing health - when he’s probably meant to be around thirty. My favourite character, however, was Soren. His expressions - mostly deadpan - and lines are excellent, with perfect timing. His role lifted the film out of the average, into something we enjoyed very much.
There’s a slightly strange interlude in the middle of the film where Eddy - whose main talent appears to be mechanical - adapts some lawnmowers to take part in a race. One of the extras on the DVD explains that lawnmower racing is a real thing in many countries.
There are one or two interesting issues explored in the film, relating to the duties of royalty, and how much personality a person can keep if they are going to become King or Queen. But since that’s not likely to apply to the vast majority of viewers, and the utter discipline and subjugation of the will isn’t necessary for most careers or roles, it’s more of passing interest than anything deep or thought-provoking. Still, the balance of career and romance is nicely done, and Paige is a strong character, a good role model for some of today’s teens.
Overall we thought it a nicely done light-weight film. It’s PG in rating so entirely clean, with a predictable but satisfying ending. Suitable for all the family, although I doubt if small children would find it very interesting. And while nothing explicit happens, there’s rather a lot of passionate kissing, which would not appeal to many young children or pre-teens.
Still, we enjoyed it, and will probably see it again in another six or seven years.
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