Once Upon a Mattress (2005)

As the last Netflix DVD I received before putting a hold on my account while in Germany, this has been sitting unwatched in my house for many months. So it also became the first movie I watched after coming home. Made for ABC, Once Upon a Mattress takes Hans Christian Anderson's "The Princess and the Pea" tale and adds music, goofy humor, and talented old people. Queen Aggravian (Carol Burnett) has spent years keeping her coddled, shy son Prince Dauntless (Denis O'Hare) from getting married, insisting that all candidate princesses for his bride go through crazy tests and challenges. She also ruled that no one in the kingdom can get married until the prince does.

When Sir Harry The Immaculate (Matthew Morrison) finds out his girlfriend Lady Larken (Zooey Deschanel) is pregnant, he decides to seek a princess worthy of the queen's requirements so that he will be able to marry Larken before she is forced to leave the castle to hide her condition. He brings back the bold and ballsy Princess Winnifred aka Fred (Tracey Ullman) from a swamp kingdom and she manages to instantly charm almost everyone, especially the prince. The queen is unimpressed and concocts a subtle test that she feels no one could possibly pass: To be considered worthy of her son, she must feel the pea placed beneath 20 mattresses, though she'll be unaware of this fact. Lady Larken and Sir Harry enlist the aid of the mute King Sextimus (Tom Smothers) and his jester (Michael Boatman) to help Fred beat the test.

I really like the fairy tale comedy premise, reminiscent of Into the Woods, but Stephen Sondheim this definitely is not. The music is good, but nothing special. A lot of the songs sound the same and nothing is particularly memorable. A lot of the jokes are too juvenile or campy, even for me. I had the feeling the script wanted to be a lot more clever than it actually is. It's not bad, just not as great as if could have been. Also it's a bit overly simple, story-wise.

What saves Once Upon A Mattress from total mediocrity is its cast. Carol Burnett, who originated the role of Fred in the first stage production, is radiant as the dominating queen, rocking several fancy hats and form-fitting dresses. She does her best with her over-the-top lines and works in some funny facial expressions. I was reminded why she is one of the only reasons I could stand all those forced viewings of Annie as a child. Tracey Ullman shines as Fred, with dance moves that defy her age and a boundless, infectious enthusiasm. Denis O'Hare and Tom Smothers were also rather endearing. And it was nice to see Zooey Deschanel singing even if she only had two songs and both were duets.

The older ages of most of the characters at first surprised me, but it didn't detract from the quality of the performances at all and I can see the angle of "Prince Dauntless hasn't been allowed to marry for decades so now he's older". Overall Once Upon a Mattress is enjoyable enough but nothing special, and really only worth it for fantastic turns from Ullman, Burnett, and Deschanel.

3/5