King Ralph Poster

King Ralph (1991)

Comedy  
Rayting:   5.2/10 15.2K votes
Country: USA
Language: English
Release date: 5 July 1991

As the only relative to take over the Royal throne, a down on his luck American slob must learn the ways of the English.

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User Reviews

ivko 21 June 2017

So I don't consider this a classic, as some other reviewers have labeled it. You really have to stretch the imagination to accept the premise that the first 30 people or so in line for the crown are suddenly killed and England, one of the largest and most powerful economies of the world, has to ask some D list lounge singer to be their new king. But I get it; this is a just-for-laughs fish out of water story, not a serious what-if film.

John Goodman, whose career was built on playing the middle-aged working class every man, does a decent job here portraying a beer drinking, football loving regular Joe who just can't stop creating uncomfortable moments around stuffy British people.

The gags are a bit of a mixed bag. When they develop in a way that's organic to the character and moment, they work pretty well. But for every good setup there is the overly forced one, such as when Goodman's character accidentally launches a greasy bird off his plate at a state dinner while trying to cut into it. The ensuing chaos sees every glass along a long, long table fall over like dominoes for nearly 30 seconds. The scene feels so desperate to hit the laugh; you can practically see the little charges going off to keep the glasses falling in comedic fashion past the horrified diners. The problem is, comedy is really hard. Even a whiff of desperation for laughs like that scene has turns funny into sad really quick.

The other part of this movie that's hard to swallow is the romance subplot. Hollywood knows that one of their major target demographics, middle aged guys, will identify with Goodman and so they supply the dream girl for the viewers alter-ego. In this case the movie asks us to believe that an insanely gorgeous 26 year old is just dying to fall in love with her dream guy: an obese man nearly old enough to be her father. When the leading man is Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt, yah OK I can believe that. But Goodman? I don't know, I just think an actress more age appropriate would have been easier to believe. The two here just don't seem like they go together.

My enjoyment of the film may have been effected by the fact that I don't care much for the concept of a monarchy, and I find arguments that keeping families in an artificial state of wealth and privilege is a good thing because they "serve the people" facile and ignorant. Note that the fantasy is always that you get to suddenly become royalty, never that you get to suddenly be a subject who gets sent to prison for not bowing properly or mouthing off. Monarchies are an outdated and brutish form of government best left in the history books, imho.

All in all, I managed to watch the whole movie, even if I wasn't enthralled the whole way thru. Passable entertainment.

coverme6 14 July 2000

Fmovies: John Goodman stars as the title monarch in this royal comedy.

Ralph is a Las Vegas lounge singer badly in the need for some

moolah when a group of British councilmen approach him one night

and bear him the news that Ralph is the new king of England

after the whole royal family has been wiped out in a freak

accident! Reluctantly, Ralph takes the job. At first, he seems

like a fish out of water, the fact being that he is an American

first of all, and that he is also a total slob! Being king might

not be so good after all.

This movie is funny because Goodman does a nice job being a

lovable slob trying his best to be the royal figurehead of the

Britain. Peter O'Toole is also good as Willingham, the

aristocrat whose job is to look after the newly appoi

fratelxvi 6 August 2008

Although I own the DVD, whenever King Ralph show up on television I watch it all the way through. This is a clever satire sending up both the pretentiousness of the British monarchy and the crassness of American society. Peter O'Toole and John Goodman....both gifted actors give this film real depth in their nuanced performances. William Hurt's over the top performance as the villainous pretender to the throne is pitch perfect, and the supporting cast, including the aides to the King, the visiting Roals from Finland, the African King and Ralph's love interest are solid, leaving this movie without a weak performance. There is something in this for everyone; romance, betrayal, friendship, and a fast moving plot with just the right kinds of twists and turns that keep the pace of this relatively short movie moving right along.

christian228 3 May 2001

King Ralph fmovies. When the entire British royal family is wiped out in an "awful" accident, the American bar entertainer Ralph Jones (excellent: John Goodman, he makes up for most of the boring parts of the plot) becomes the new King of England. After a few adjustment problems with his new job (clothing, manners etc.) he falls in love with a young woman he meets at a local strip club. Problems emerge when his secretary tries to marry him to the Finnish princess to seal a business deal for a few English companies. All in all, a good movie with some great lines but also some boring parts.

bkoganbing 18 February 2006

Though this film got trashed in a lot of circles, I rather like it if for no other reasons than it gives Americans some notion of the function of the monarchy in Great Britain.

Sometimes having the head of state and the head of government does have its bad points. Watergate for instance might have not been the gut wrenching experience if in America we were a parliamentary democracy with a royal head of state. Richard Nixon would have been put up for a "no confidence" vote and out he would have been without all the drama.

Drama on the other side of the Atlantic is saved for the Royals. This film might give an American some idea of what the abdication crisis was all about. John Goodman as the American born King has his own Mrs. Simpson.

In fact how he got to the throne is quite the tale. On some grand occasion the extended royal family got together for what looks like a team picture like they take in spring training of the various baseball rosters. Someone left a loose electrical cable dangling on the metal bleachers and the whole lot of them were electrocuted.

Genealogists poured through the Windham family tree and found some member had renounced it all and gone to America. The heir of that forgotten branch is John Goodman, Ralph Jones who does a lounge act in Las Vegas and not in classier joints in Las Vegas.

Of course the free and easy and thoroughly American Goodman doesn't take readily to his new found job. He can't quite comprehend that he has to serve as well as be served. And he has the same problem the Duke of Windsor had when he was briefly Edward VIII. With a lot more excuse since Windsor was brought up in the tradition.

Peter O'Toole as the lord who tries to give him some on the job training and John Hurt who has his own reasons for wanting Goodman to flop both give stand out performances. Best scene the palace ball for Goodman's prospective bride when Goodman does his lounge act.

It's a funny film and in its own way educational. The Duke of Windsor should have seen it. His duty would have been clear.

jason-674 29 October 2004

I think that people are generally harsh towards the nature of this film. It is not meant to be entirely accurate and yes, perhaps I am slightly biased having starred in the film myself (Jason Richards (I) on IMDb). You will see that I played the role of Ralph II, the little guy who played that tiny piano/ keyboard at the end of the film! Having looked at the film again recently, I regard it as one of those classic comedies not to be mocked. I had great fun when acting in the film and I had just as much fun watching it! John Goodman really is the greatest of guys (although the size of him really scared me when I met him!) I suggest to everyone who mocks this film, that this is one of the reasons he became so great in the movie world. If it wasn't for King Ralph, he would have never got to the Flintstones or any of the other films which have come to make him so renowned.

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