How many romantic films exist where the principal couple has not experienced their first kiss until one hour into the story? "The Prince & Me" is one rare example of such a film, and I admired the careful development of the main relationship, as performed by the likable Julia Stiles and Luke Mably.

Above all, I admired the focus on courtship, a concept that is arguably a dying breed in our culture today. In fact, I cannot recall a film where there was so little emphasis on sex and so many carefully developed scenes where we see emotional chemistry building between the main characters, Paige Morgan, a young pre-med student in Wisconsin, and the Danish prince Edward who calls himself Eddie.

"The Prince & Me" brings back the old-style Hollywood romances. In fact, I kept thinking of the wonderful picture "The Swan" featuring the luminous Grace Kelly, the dour Alec Guinness, and the dashing Louis Jourdan. Although "The Prince & Me" may not merit the status of a classic romance like "The Swan," it was nonetheless a breath of film-going fresh air among so many cynical films dealing with contemporary relationships. There was a nice touch with the pacing of the film and the close-ups provided by director Martha Coolidge. The scenes shot in Denmark were splendid and added an aura of magic to the main love relationship.

According to her IMDb biography, Julia Stiles has been an English major at Columbia in addition to juggling an impressive acting career. The scenes in "The Prince & Me" set at the University of Wisconsin, Manitowac provided a convincing portrayal of academic life, especially the coaching session in Shakespeare. The realism in the routine activities at college helped to make the story as a whole convincing and evoked the feeling that a relationship like that of Paige and Eddie might really exist.

Wisconsin university student Paige Morgan (Julia Stiles) has her life planned out. She's the last of her friends to get married. It's all about her studies and her need to get into med school at Johns Hopkins. Eddie (Luke Mably) is the spoiled pampered heir to the royal throne of Denmark. He lives a sheltered life. After seeing a "The Girls of Wisconsin" commercial on TV, he decides to go to university in Wisconsin incognito. His parents are exasperated. He is accompanied by man servant Soren. He is quickly taken with Paige who's working as a bartender. She finds him annoying but he turns up at her class and becomes her permanent lab partner. She doesn't know his position. Of course she eventually falls for him. Then they're ambushed by a couple of paparazzi.

Eddie is hopelessly ridiculous and stupid. I guess he is the male version of the adorable clueless princess. It doesn't work at all. It makes him an utterly annoying douche. Julia Stiles is lovely and stops this from being completely unlikeable. Luke Mably doesn't come off at all well. Lucky for him, Julia is good enough to sell this love story by herself. As Eddie's personality improves, the romance does improve. If he started with a nice personality, this would such a better movie and the chemistry would be so much better.

At college Paige meets Eddie, a fellow student from Denmark, whom she first dislikes but later accepts, likes, and loves; he proves to be Crown Prince Edvard. Paige follows him to Copenhagen, and he follows her back to school with a plan.

Do you remember that moment in time when Julia Stiles was something of an "it" girl? I mean, you know "10 Things I Hate About You" is a modern classic. And I remember liking "Wicked". But then I think people started figuring out she sort of has only one personality and is not really a serious actress. And frankly, she looks sort of weird. Beyond the Bourne movies and a strange miscasting in "The Omen", she faded away.

I love that this film takes place in Madison and they even have the rathskeller, yet it was not filmed at all in Madison. Seems like it would have been nice to get some real exterior shots of the Madison campus rather than fat guys eating chips. If you know that Madison has a rathskeller, you have probably been there.