Reel Facts & Opinions: Why this bad movie is important

The medieval fantasy spoof YOUR HIGHNESS opened this past weekend with mixed to dismal reviews, along with a pathetic $9 million at the box office. Despite some excellent production design and a handful of good actors, the film failed miserably in entertainment and staying-power.

There are only three (3) things that a film can do to annoy this blogger (and whether you realize it or not, you lot as well), and those things are:

1. A movie where nothing happens
2. A movie that is boring
3. A movie that has no other purpose other than a vehicle to showcase an actor

YOUR HIGHNESS failed thanks to Thing No. 3. It was a spoof that wasn’t allowed to spoof; trading off jokes and pokes at the genre in place of Danny McBride’s vulgar toilet humor. Eliminating McBride from the film would have allowed things to take a more natural and successful turn. The absence of McBride’s character (a jealous younger brother), would have shifted the focus to James Franco and Natalie Portman’s characters. Would that work? Damn right. Franco and Portman’s characters were on the same quest for different reasons. Franco wanted to kill the bad guy for love; Portman wanted to kill the bad guy for revenge. Love vs. Hate. There’s the classic moral conflict that the filmmakers missed, and could have fun with.

Why is all this important? It a perfect example of a bad trend in movies, and it all comes back to Thing No. 3; good storytelling getting shoved to the back of the theatre in favor of showing off one actor. It’s a bad trend that’s been going on for nearly forever. This year alone there was Seth Rogen’s GREEN HORNET, along with Russell Brand’s ARTHUR; nothing more than showcases. The same can be said for most of Will Ferrell’s films, along with Jackie Chan, Steven Seagal, and Jean Claude Van Damme.

And the trend can be traced back even further. The majority of John Wayne and Frank Sinatra films offered nothing more than showing off their leading men.
It’s a bad trend, and one not likely to stop any time soon. Actors are an important part of movies (duh), but the storytelling should never be sacrificed for them. Half the problem is the average movie-going public goes to the theatre to see their favorite people (actors). Sometimes it works, but the money YOUR HIGHNESS lost has to make Hollywood take notice.

What say you?