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Fairy tales for the modern girl are a hard sell, and there’s nothing original in this by-the-book romance, which stars Julia Stiles as a determined young medical student who falls in love with a boy who turns out to be a prince. He’s all reckless European impetuosity to her uptight can-do Americanism, so of course they’re perfect for each other. Throw in her unpretentious farmer parents and his royal ones, sit back, and let the fireworks fly. That seems to have been the plan, anyway. The actual film is considerably less exciting. Luke Mably’s Prince of Denmark decides to go to school in Wisconsin on the basis of a Girls Gone Wild–esque video, and that’s about as wacky as things get. Directed by Martha Coolidge, who made the great opposites-attract comedy Valley Girl, The Prince & Me lacks all of that film’s oddball affection for its characters. It’s just part of a weird string of films about American girls struggling to become royalty while remaining true to themselves (The Princess Diaries and its upcoming sequel, What a Girl Wants), with nothing new to add to the lineage. (111 minutes)
BY BROOKE HOLGERSON
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