‘The Prince & Me’

Starring: Julia Stiles

Directed by: Martha Coolidge

2 out of 5 stars

Julia Stiles has once again proven that she is a classic teen-movie goddess. In her latest movie, Stiles plays Paige, a farm girl, who will let nothing come in the way of her dreams – until she falls in love with a prince.

When ‘The Prince & Me’ opens today, the theater will surely be packed with the typical teenage movie-goers. This is the classic story of love that blooms between an ambitious mid-western college student and a prince who is trying to flee his life by running away to Wisconsin to attend school.

This isn’t the worst movie ever, but it’s far from the best. It is typical of the teen-movie genre, and is nothing with which to be smitten. The acting is mediocre, and there isn’t any great cinematography or fantastic film-making. But the cast is insanely attractive.

Luke Mably plays Edward, or Eddie as he refers to himself once in America. Eddie is tired of his posh life as the prince of Denmark, and after seeing a commercial for what appears to be a mid-western style ‘Girls Gone Wild’ video, he decides to escape his family and become a regular student at a college in Wisconsin.

Well, he is not regular. He brings his butler and arrives on the first day in a limo. Then later in the story his butler prepares eggs benedict in his dorm room – just like any college student would.

When the students first arrive at school, some of them hang out of their dorm windows and others run around the halls practically naked. Clearly, this is not reality, but then again, neither is the prince of Denmark showing up at the University of Wisconsin.

Paige and Eddie don’t get off to a very good start; few couples do in the teen-movie genre. They need to screw up so they can redeem themselves later on. This holds especially true in this movie, since Eddie fails to mention that he is a prince and just claims to be a foreign exchange student.

After Eddie’s limo almost runs Paige over on the first day of school, Eddie asks her to take her top off at the bar later that night, like he saw in the video that prompted his venture overseas. After this request she furiously sprays him with soda.

The movie continues much in this manner. They become lab partners, and he immediately screws up. She reprimands him because chemistry is vital if she wants to pursue her dreams of becoming a doctor. Once Eddie’s bank account runs thin, Eddie proceeds to get a job working at the deli where Paige bartends – and, again, he manages to mess everything up on the first day. Somehow, this time around, she finds sympathy in her heart and begins to feel an affection for him.

A few weeks into the semester, when Paige is doing poorly in her Shakespearean literature class, and Eddie is doing worse in chemistry, the two decide to tutor each other. This is where the fun really begins, as Eddie recites Shakespearean sonnets to Paige and teaches her to reach beyond just the words and grasp the deeper meanings of the poems.

As the two grow closer, Paige invites Eddie home to her farm for Thanksgiving break, and her family beings to suspect that love is blossoming between them.

The love-stuck students succumb to their feelings and the two eventually share a romantic kiss in the barn after Eddie wins a lawn mower race. Back at school, when the two start going at it in the bookshelves, Eddie is finally found by the European paparazzi – how convenient – forcing him to confesses his true regal identity. Yet unlike in fairytales, the idea of falling for a prince intimidates Paige, who runs through the rain home to her apartment.

After much deliberation, Paige realizes that she does, in fact, love Eddie and wants to be with him. This only causes more trouble, with Paige having to choose between her two possible futures.

There is, of course, a happy ending. The movie is clich and typical, but this teen-movie magic is what that keeps filmgoers coming back for more Stiles.

Published on April 1, 2004 at 12:00 pm