All's Faire in Love

This low-budget romantic comedy focuses on the backstage merrymaking of various performers at a summer Renaissance fair. The story begins when star college quarterback Will (Owen Benjamin) is dispatched by irate Professor Shockworthy (Cedric the Entertainer) to join a ragtag theater troupe at Ye Olde Times Renaissance Pleasure Faire to make up for his non-attendance in a literature class. Once there Will finds free-spirited Kate (Christina Ricci), who impulsively fled the world of investment banking to join her cousin Jo (Louise Griffiths) and indulge her dreams of being an actress in the theater—albeit for three weeks. Ann-Margret costars as Mrs. Banks, aka “the Queen,” who rules over the festival. A hammy, treachery-laden competition determines who will be a “royal” and who will be relegated to the status of “common peasant,” and the ensemble's ultimate survival on the Shakespearean stage depends on its performance against a group of competitors led by über-villainous Prince Rank (Chris Wylde). Director Scott Marshall's All's Faire in Love suffers from a transparent, formulaic plot and hackneyed caricatures instead of characters, despite the best efforts of Matthew Lillard as Crocket, Will's mentor, and Dave Sheridan as Roy, the court jester with a hand-puppet named Horny the Unicorn. Not recommended. (S. Granger)