The Prince and Me (PG)

Good acting saves unoriginal Cinderella story.

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Common Sense rates it
3
Seen the movie? Review it
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Movie details
  • Studio: Paramount Pictures, Paramount Pictures
  • Directed By: Martha Coolidge
  • Cast: Julia Stiles
  • Running Time: 103 minutes
  • Release Date: 04/02/2004
  • Video/DVD Release Date: 08/10/2004
  • Genre: Comedy
  • MPAA Rating: PG
  • MPAA Explanation: some sex-related material and language

Parents need to know

Parents need to know that this movie has some mild language and some passionate kissing and sexual references. The prince comes to America because he sees a commercial for the "Girls Gone Wild" videos and thinks that in the US girls all take their tops off for anyone who asks. There is an interrupted encounter that the couple might have intended to become more intimate, but there is no implication that Eddie and Paige go to bed together. There is a mild gay joke when characters do not understand the relationship between Eddie and the aide his family has sent to watch over him. There are scenes in a bar and characters drink, including a drinking game.

Families can talk about what Eddie and Paige saw in each other and what challenges lie ahead of them. What would be the best thing about being a prince? What would be the worst? What made Eddie's mother change her mind? How do the costumes and uniforms Eddie and Paige wear help tell the story? Families might also want to talk about the way Eddie approaches the labor dispute. Why was it so hard to resolve? What do Paige's and Eddie's mothers have in common?

Message

Social Behavior:

Good female role model. Gay joke.

Consumerism:

Drugs/Alcohol/Tobacco:

Drinking, scenes in bar, drinking game.

Violence

An ailing parent.

Sex

Some passionate kissing and sexual references including "Girls Gone Wild" video, mild gay joke.

Language

Common Sense says

What's the story?

Reviewed by Nell Minow

THE PRINCE AND ME stars Julia Stiles as Paige Morgan, a serious and hard-working pre-med college student who has her whole life literally mapped out. She has a map of the world with pins showing all of the places she wants to visit after she completes her medical training and joins Doctors Without Borders. Luke Mably plays Edvard, the heir to the Danish crown. His life is also planned for him, but he is not the one who made the plans. He wants to postpone the inevitable by having as much fun as possible before he has to take on the responsibilities of the life he was born to. He secretly enrolls in college in Wisconsin, incognito as "Eddie," a foreign exchange student. Once he meets Paige, Edvard learns what it is like to have to earn respect and affection -- and money -- and Paige learns what it is like to listen to her heart and use her imagination. They each get to explore the other's family and culture. He races a souped-up riding lawnmower in Wisconsin farm country and she stays in a castle and goes to a ball. But falling in love is easy; finding a way to make their dreams and responsibilities fit together is not.

Is it any good?

3
The title says it all. This is a classic Cinderella story about a hardworking girl from the Wisconsin dairy farm who wants to go to medical school but falls for a handsome and charming foreign exchange student who happens to be a prince in disguise. Does the course of true love run smooth? Not at first. Do they live happily ever after? What do you think?

Director Martha Coolidge has a sensitive touch in dealing with young female characters. She and Stiles do their best to make Paige more than the typical romantic comedy heroine. Mably shows some ease and charm as Eddie, who describes that other Danish prince, Hamlet, as though he is talking about himself: "The prince was young and scared and didn't feel ready for the choices he had to make." All of that helps to make up for a weak script that is too often too silly and too seldom original. By the time we have to sit through a scene of Paige trying on all the Crown jewels, they have long since run out of ideas.

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Parents and kids say

All Reviews

There are 9 reviews.

3

Posted on 02/19/08 by Anonymous Adult contributor

Okay, but not stellar

The "PG" rating really surprised me. The kissing, "Girls Gone Wild," and a scene where a man asks a woman to take her top off were really inapropriate for younger kids. There was also more drinking than I expected. 12+ only.
5


Posted on 08/03/07 by moviegeek Kid contributor, age 15

Cute and entertaining

My family really liked this movie. It didn't really bother us that there was some mild language (but really, your kid hears worse at school) and that the only reason the Edvard wants to come to America is because he sees a "Girls Gone Wild" video. Some parts were actually laugh-out-loud funny. Anyone 12+ should be able to handle it.
0

Posted on 03/12/05 by Anonymous Kid contributor, age 12

Hated it

I thought this movie was STUPID!!!! it should be rated PG-13! It was so Boring and predictable!!!
0


Posted on 01/10/05 by Tealady Adult contributor

Crude, didn't watch the whole thing

Just seeing the commercial in the background of the movie showing censored versions of girls taking off their tops was enough for me to not let my daughters watch it. It may have turned out where the prince had a change of heart, but to wade through the visual and auditory things in the beginning was not worth the rest of the movie to me.
4

Posted on 08/19/04 by Anonymous Adult contributor

Be careful with young school age children

I was really surprised at the reference to "Girls gone wild" junk!! The language was unnecessary. Plot and story were cute.
3


Posted on 08/16/04 by wahoosigma Adult contributor

Sweet Romance

Prince meets ordinary girl and falls in love. A sweet movie with a classic fairy tale theme. The college scenes and the raucous friends are a bit much but play a small role in the overall movie. Good entertainment but don't expect any amazing moral other than follow your heart.
3

Posted on 08/11/04 by Anonymous Adult contributor
3

Posted on 08/11/04 by Anonymous Adult contributor

Preteen Fairy Tale with Good Conversation Starters

I saw this at the theater with my 13 year old daughter and we enjoyed it. I don't expect it's the kind of thing that even gets considered for an academy award, but it was great to use as a discussion starting point about promiscuous behavior, responsibility, dating, drinking, stereotypes, etc.
3


Posted on 04/11/04 by beedee1126 Adult contributor

This movie should have been rated PG-13.

The Prince and Me was a cute movie. However, it should have been rated PG-13. My daughter and I both heard the "S" word in one of the scenes. Also, there was the scene in the library where Paige and Eddie were taking off their shirts that suggusts having sex (Luckily, the paparazzi came along.). That type of scene should not be in a PG movie at all.

See all 9 reviews >

Adult Reviews

There are 7 reviews.

3

Posted on 02/19/08 by Anonymous Adult contributor

Okay, but not stellar

The "PG" rating really surprised me. The kissing, "Girls Gone Wild," and a scene where a man asks a woman to take her top off were really inapropriate for younger kids. There was also more drinking than I expected. 12+ only.
0


Posted on 01/10/05 by Tealady Adult contributor

Crude, didn't watch the whole thing

Just seeing the commercial in the background of the movie showing censored versions of girls taking off their tops was enough for me to not let my daughters watch it. It may have turned out where the prince had a change of heart, but to wade through the visual and auditory things in the beginning was not worth the rest of the movie to me.
4

Posted on 08/19/04 by Anonymous Adult contributor

Be careful with young school age children

I was really surprised at the reference to "Girls gone wild" junk!! The language was unnecessary. Plot and story were cute.
3


Posted on 08/16/04 by wahoosigma Adult contributor

Sweet Romance

Prince meets ordinary girl and falls in love. A sweet movie with a classic fairy tale theme. The college scenes and the raucous friends are a bit much but play a small role in the overall movie. Good entertainment but don't expect any amazing moral other than follow your heart.
3

Posted on 08/11/04 by Anonymous Adult contributor
3

Posted on 08/11/04 by Anonymous Adult contributor

Preteen Fairy Tale with Good Conversation Starters

I saw this at the theater with my 13 year old daughter and we enjoyed it. I don't expect it's the kind of thing that even gets considered for an academy award, but it was great to use as a discussion starting point about promiscuous behavior, responsibility, dating, drinking, stereotypes, etc.
3


Posted on 04/11/04 by beedee1126 Adult contributor

This movie should have been rated PG-13.

The Prince and Me was a cute movie. However, it should have been rated PG-13. My daughter and I both heard the "S" word in one of the scenes. Also, there was the scene in the library where Paige and Eddie were taking off their shirts that suggusts having sex (Luckily, the paparazzi came along.). That type of scene should not be in a PG movie at all.
See all 7 adult reviews>

Kids Reviews

There are 2 reviews.

5


Posted on 08/03/07 by moviegeek Kid contributor, age 15

Cute and entertaining

My family really liked this movie. It didn't really bother us that there was some mild language (but really, your kid hears worse at school) and that the only reason the Edvard wants to come to America is because he sees a "Girls Gone Wild" video. Some parts were actually laugh-out-loud funny. Anyone 12+ should be able to handle it.
0

Posted on 03/12/05 by Anonymous Kid contributor, age 12

Hated it

I thought this movie was STUPID!!!! it should be rated PG-13! It was so Boring and predictable!!!
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