The worst part is that the film looks beautiful, with gorgeous exterior shots, terrific visual effects and a sequence of well-staged interior shots that make it clear the production team (led by director David Gordon Green) was aiming at a modern, updated The Princess Bride.  Problem is, writer Danny McBride couldn't resist having the characters talk like wanna-be toughs who have just learned the latest obscenities, resulting in a film that was more profanity-laced than an Eddie Murphy stand-up routine.

The story, such as it is, involves the much-beloved Prince Fabious (James Franco) meeting the loopy but beautiful Belladonna (Zooey Deschanel) on a quest and bringing her back to the castle to meet his slacker brother Prince Thadeous (Danny McBride) and Dad, King Tallious (Charles Dance). She'd been trapped in a tower since a young child - a la Rapunzel - by the evil wizard Leezar (Justin Theroux) and he returns on their wedding day to kidnap Belladonna and return her to his evil lair.

Fabious now has a new quest, to rescue his fair Belladonna from the clutches of the evil Leezar, and accompanying him - on his first quest, and under duress - is Thadeous and his faithful servant Courtney (Rasmus Hardicker).  Cue a non-stop stream of sexual and scatological jokes that almost always fell flat and scenes that were often embarrassing to watch (the Great Wize Wizard, the selection of the Minotaur's trophy), all with weirdly impressive production values.

Therein lies the tragedy of Your Highness. With a more mature writer and some adult supervision on the dialog and scenes, there really was the basis of a beautifully produced chivalric comedy. But Your Highness is not that film and unless your sense of humor is stuck in sixth grade, this is not the film for you to see. Ever.

Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) has just this kind of job in Up In The Air, he's a corporate downsizer brought in to fire excess employees. It's a tough job and Bingham has made a career out of detaching, disassociating from anything that could tie him down, including his long-estranged siblings and their families.

Perpetually on the go, he meets up with fellow frequent flier Alex Goran (Vera Fermiga) and they flirt as they empty their wallets onto the hotel bar table, comparing rewards programs and avoiding anything personal. They end up in bed, and next morning coolly try to find an overlap in their travel schedules so they can meet up again. Soon they're sending each other suggestive text messages and getting involved romantically.

Meanwhile, Bingham's boss Craig Gregory (Jason Bateman) has been bowled over by the young, fresh scrubbed efficiency expert Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick), who is convinced that they can just as easily fire people via video conferences and save millions by not having the senior staff in the air.

I've become quite a fan of Clooney in the last few years and expected to like Up In The Air, but it was still much better than I expected. It's a delightful, unpretentious, perfectly assembled romance for our times. Better yet, it unfolds in surprising and unexpected ways and left me satisfied with its distinctly non-Hollywood ending. Strongly recommended.