BEFORE: Riffing off of last night's plot, with a commoner somehow failing upwards, and becoming the leader of a country. Linking from last night, Dana Delaney was in "Exit to Eden" with Dan Aykroyd, who was in "Blues Brothers 2000" with John Goodman. Easy-peasy.
THE PLOT: As the only relative to take over the Royal throne, a down on his luck American slob must learn the ways of the English.
AFTER: As always, I must consider whether the comedic premise is plausible. A freak accident wiping out the entire royal family? Possible, I guess. The stewards of the monarchy seeking out the lineage of a child born out of wedlock, and giving the throne to a common American? I doubt it. As the movie itself states, another option would be to have the throne resort to someone from the House of Stuarts, instead of Windsor. Sorry, WindHAM, according to this film.
Another timely choice tonight, with all the press about the upcoming Royal Wedding, plus the recent Oscar victories - with Goodman's character learning all about his royal duties and proper etiquette, is this film kind of like a low-rent version of "The King's Speech"? And doesn't Colin Firth look a little like a less pudgy John Goodman? (Damn, this would have been a good opportunity to go to the cinema and see "The King's Speech" afterwards, but I didn't think of it.)
Anyway, the film - not believable, but it's amusing enough, once you get past the America-bashing. Of course they make Ralph an obnoxious Vegas performer to heighten the "fish out of water" effect, but he's also an honest, good-natured guy who's trying to do his best, even though he's not cut out for the job. No real laugh-out-loud moments, but to its credit it becomes rather heartwarming at the end.
And like in "Moon Over Parador", someone understands the concept of a story-arc. In both cases the commoners come to power, and then start developing their exit strategy. It sounds really simple, but the easiest screenwriting mistake to make is to accidentally tell only half of a story. A rookie writer might figure out a way to get a crass American to become king of England, and end it there, leaving the audience feeling unfulfilled.
This week has turned out rather silly, but it's time to get serious - tomorrow night is big movie #800, after all.
Also starring Peter O'Toole (last seen in "Stardust"), John Hurt (last seen in "New York, I Love You"), Richard Griffiths (last seen in "Bedtime Stories"), with cameos from Joely Richardson, Julian Glover (Gen. Veers from "The Empire Strikes Back", last seen in "The Fourth Protocol").
RATING: 6 out of 10 pinball machines
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