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By Kent Larsen
Reviewer Pans 'The Princess and the Marine'
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA -- Michael Speier, a reviewer for the trade magazine
Variety panned this coming Sunday's "The Princess and the Marine," saying
that while all the elements were there for a great show, the execution "is
all wrong." The film tells the story of Marine Jason Johnson, who is Mormon,
and his successful smuggling of a Bahraini princess into the US from the
Middle East, where he had fallen in love with her.
Speier says that the film suffers from its simplicity. He says that the
director replaced the "confusion, fear and anxiety" that the two felt "with
stolen kisses and trips to the food court." Speier adds that the roles as
written in the script are "much too uncomplicated to be taken that
seriously, especially since the possibility of prison -- even murder --
continues to looms large." Overall, he says the film is "simple and
comfortable but misses out on the serious inspection of religion and legal
wrangling."
But the film will likely get a good audience regardless, simply because news
reports of the story have been widely published and have captured the
imagination of some in the public. Since their ordeal ended, the couple have
wed, but Johnson was stripped of his rank in the Marines for his illegal
activities. The political asylum case of his wife, Meriam, has yet to be heard.
Source:
No crown for "Princess"
Boston Globe (Variety) 15Feb01 P2
By Michael Speier
See also:
Marine Who Brought Bahraini Princess to US is Mormon
Story of Mormon Marine Who Smuggled Princess to US to be NBC Movie
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