TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

DipitySkillful an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

Beulah Bram A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Roedy Green This is a fun story. It is best if you don't know ahead of time that Princess Caraboo is a fake, since they tease you back and forth trying to decide.The movie is fun watching her effect on others, particularly the John Lithgow character. Everyone wants to spin their private fantasies around her, but of course deny everything. The deceit tickles.Of course the fake Caraboo can act her part with a perfectly straight face. She is a professional actor, equally capable of playing Mary Baker or Princess Caraboo.The law of the time was so harsh, unfair and arbitrary. It pretty well amounted to the whim of whomever had money. Beggars were jailed for three months or hanged. It intrudes harshly into the fizzy movie several times.Princess Caraboo develops into a Scherezade-like character, who captivates with her stories. People want to believe her stories simply because they are beautiful. For the first part of the movie, Caraboo captivates the audience with her gentle mimes.

vchimpanzee This story is set several hundred years ago. A mysterious girl who apparently speaks no English is found begging in the streets. The magistrate wants to put her in jail, but the wife of one of the prominent men of the city wants to take her home to stay with her. Several people are consulted to determine what language the girl speaks, including one language expert played by John Lithgow who is very funny (especially when he tries to speak various languages). The girl doesn't look Asian or Middle Eastern, but if she's faking it (as some suspect) she's doing a good job. She has a tattoo and strange religious customs that provide clues, though the language in which she writes is not known to anyone. It is decided that she is speaking a dialect from Asia. When she does understand what is going on, she comes across as quite charming. Eventually, it is determined that she must be a princess, and her name seems to be Caraboo.Phoebe Cates gave a performance worthy of an Oscar nomination. Whether her character did as well I won't say. You'll just have to watch.I was worried when the movie wasn't funny at first, but the humor came in large doses after a while, and not the usual type of movie humor. This was quite a sophisticated film considering it often tried to be silly, and the costumes and the settings were very nice. The music was magnificent, whether highbrow classical or period music that sounded more like what ordinary people would enjoy. Everything about this movie was well done, and while it's not normally the type of movie I would watch, I enjoyed it.

sonofhades I saw this film on a long bus trip on video and have to admit that it was a drama movie to my liking.I would like to recommend this one to anyone who likes good quality, historical drama.

Lancelot-16 This is a real gem of a movie. The cast is wonderful. Phoebe Cates' performance is extraordinary -- both funny and moving. At all levels the movie is very well made. But the most surprising thing, for me, was how much I continued to think about the story for days and weeks after seeing the movie. I strongly recommend it.