Princess of Thieves (2001)

Wow! Such a good movie.

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

It's 1184 Nottingham, England. During reign of King Richard the Lionheart, a girl is born to Robin and Marion. Sheriff of Nottingham (Malcolm McDowell) would have placed a price on the son's head but is unconcerned about a girl. Gwyn (Keira Knightley) grows up under the tyrannical rule of Prince John for his absent brother King Richard. Her father Robin of Locksley is often away and her mother Marion is pass. Richard is gravely injured and heir to the throne Prince Philip (Stephen Moyer) is coming from France. Robin and Will Scarlett go off to aid Philip. Gwyn sets off to help dressed as a boy helped by friend Froderick despite her father forbidding it. Robin and Will are captured while Gwyn runs into Philip pretending to be a servant.This should a lot simpler. Instead there is a lot of political intrigue. It's also way too serious. The material is treated like a Shakespearian play. The production is pretty good considering this is a TV movie. Keira Knightley is great at such a young age. Stephen Moyer is too old especially acting opposite Keira. The chemistry is about what one expects from a 30 year old with jailbait Keira. It's a little creepy. Even Froderick is annoying in his puppy love mode. Keira is great though.

I didn't see this one when it originally aired. I watched it on DVD many years later. It's a cute little movie with Keira Knightley as the daughter of Robin Hood, who is kind of a deadbeat dad. The basic plot is that Robin is captured by the Sheriff of Nottingham (anything-for-a-paycheck Malcolm McDowell), so his daughter must complete his mission of protecting Prince Philip (Stephen Moyer), the heir apparent to the throne of England. A romantic subplot inevitably develops between teenage Knightley and twice-her-age Moyer that thankfully never gets too gross. He does look younger than his age here. It's a cheesy little movie but pleasant enough. The music's overbearing at times. Nothing special but a good time-passer.

I've not seen this film. I only wanted to commend the reviewer kelley-8 who, in a review posted on 1 September 2001 - at the very least a full year before Keira Knightly made her breakthrough in Bend it Like Beckham, said "The actress who played Gwyn is beautiful and should have a long career." I was so impressed reading this. Of course, Knightly went on to become a famously successful Hollywood actor as Elizabeth Swan in Pirates of the Caribbean, but also got to play famous literary roles such as Anna Karenina and Elizabeth Bennett (in Pride and Prejudice). For such brilliant insight, someone should buy that man (or woman) a drink or six. :)

I'm not sure what to call this ending. I think the accepted HappyEnding would be something along the lines of Gwyn and Prince William getting married and living happily ever after. Unfortunately, the film did too much work to make Froderick entirely too likable and didn't do enough character building for the handsome prince. So instead of the accepted HappyEnding being what I wanted to see, instead I badly wished that SINCE Gwyn and Prince Charming couldn't marry, then over time, she "settled" for Froderick, who in my opinion was much more steady, sensible, handsome (except for the hairdo), and would make a much better husband.As it was, Disney settled for neither ending, leaving me rather frustrated - that is, only as frustrated as I get from watching a movie that didn't do a whole lot character-building-wise, or plot-wise for that matter.Overall, it's a movie that I can show to my kids and not be ashamed, for which I'm thankful - goodness knows there's few enough of those movies out there... buuuut, as far as entertainment value and real, true, honest-to-goodness quality goes- yeah, look elsewhere.