King Ralph (1991)

20% of critics liked it
(10 reviews)
26% of users liked it
(19,110 ratings)

Sometimes a family title, among the nobility of England, goes to the "collateral" heirs -- people not in the direct line of decent, like cousins, great-nephews and the like. On rare occasions, these people are not even aware that they are about to be elevated to the House of Lords, and they have… More Sometimes a family title, among the nobility of England, goes to the "collateral" heirs -- people not in the direct line of decent, like cousins, great-nephews and the like. On rare occasions, these people are not even aware that they are about to be elevated to the House of Lords, and they have been living more-or-less ordinary lives. In this comedy, the family which lacks direct heirs is the Royal Family of England -- as all of the likely heirs have died one after the other in swift succession. In this comedy, the "collateral heir" is an exuberant, fence-busting All-American slob (and pretty good rock n' roll musician) by the name of Ralph (John Goodman). Unknown to him, his grandmother had an affair with a royal prince. Ralph's a good guy, and eager to please. He recognizes the importance of the royal hoopla to England and works very hard to fit in as its new designated king. He is assisted by the ever-unctuous, very serious family factotum Willingham (Peter O'Toole). The trouble is, he doesn't have instincts for politics English-style, and he is constantly "putting a foot wrong," as they might say. The most difficult situation for him is when he develops a new love interest, and she's not "acceptable" to the upper crust. In addition to being hounded by the tabloids, he finds that "the good of the state" requires that he drop his new girlfriend. Things really come to a head just before Ralph's coronation as king. Reviewers generally loathed this feel-good comedy, but audiences seem to have enjoyed it tremendously, and it has done well in video and TV airings. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Play Trailer

Rating, Runtime: PG, 1 hr. 36 min.
Directed By: David S. Ward
Genres: Comedy

In Theaters: Feb 15, 1991 Wide
On DVD: Jun 15, 1998
Studio: MCA Universal Home Video

Critic Reviews

Steve Crum, Video-Reviewmaster.com
Interesting premise of Goodman becoming King works as fairly funny comedy.
Luke Y. Thompson, New Times
Unfortunately it's not a movie about Green Party candidate Nader -- just a barely passable "funny fat guy" flick

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

Directors C

[img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon13.gif[/img] In his first ever starring role, John Goodman really gives it his all and delivers a charming performance as the titiluar character that is the -should be hilarious- Ralph. The film surrounding Goodman… More
[img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon13.gif[/img] In his first ever starring role, John Goodman really gives it his all and delivers a charming performance as the titiluar character that is the -should be hilarious- Ralph. The film surrounding Goodman isn't as energetic. There are very few laughs in the second half of King Ralph because it focuses more on the plot which in it's execution, should have been a lot funnier than it was. The whole idea of the film was designed primarily for John Goodman to do what he does best and wisecrack, do fat jokes and be lovable but their's very little of that as opposed to his role's in Dirty Deeds and The Big Lebowski. I laughed a few times but it doesn't make full use of the comedic cast it has on board. At best it's barely passable but also mildly amusing.
Lucas M

Seriously?. Come on...
Wahida K

Nice Comedy but forgetable
Anthony L

Stupid but lots of fun!
danny d

a great and unknown film
Jason S

You really have to stretch to make this a believable plot. It has some laughs but nothing really to get excited about.
Candy R

Comedy about a guy who find out he's next inline to the British throne after a freak accident kills off the royal family.
Lafe F

A hard-to-swallow plot has some funny moments, but it seems formulaic.
xGary X

Completely predictable class comedy that's wall-to-wall cliches. Goodman is always watchable, but he's got very little to work with here.
Juan C

john goodman is a kindhearted and hillarious as a goofy american britian king. B+
Joseph E

Now, I sincerly tried to like this film for what it was, but hated it for what it could of-should of been.
Sarah P

It was one of those comedies where the set up is too outrageous to really be funny. I probably wouldn't watch again, but it was tolerable one time.
Miriam K

What you see is what you get in this one. . . Was great fun at the time to me but looking back on it as an adult is a different story. Not a complete waste of time either though as it did have it's funny moments.
Lee K

Not bad movie that features john goodman when he was still doing dan connor in roseanne
Leo L

Hilarious!

Read all 15 featured audience ratings

Cast

            John Goodman as Ralph

            Peter O'Toole as Willingham

            John Hurt as Lord Percival Graves

            Camille Coduri as Miranda

            Richard Griffiths as Phipps

            Leslie Phillips as Gordon

            James Villiers as Hale

            Joely Richardson as Princess Anna

            Niall O'Brien as McGuire

            Julian Glover as King Gustav

            Judy Parfitt as Queen Katherine

            Ed Stobart as Dysentery

            Dallas Adams as MC Strip Club

            Roger Ashton-Griffiths as Royal Photographer

            Ann Beach as Miranda's Mother

            Richard Bebb as Gamekeeper

            Paul Beech as Tailor

            Cameron Blakely as Graves's Photographer

            Chantal-Claire as Dukette

            Patrick Cremin as Funeral Guard

            Guy Fithen as Bouncer

            Gareth Forwood as Duke

            Ian Gelder as Riding Instructor

            Brian Greene as Ed Mayes

            Topaze Hasfal-School as Backup Singer

            Josanne Haydon-Pearce as Chorus Girl

            Gedren Heller as Punk Girl

            Vanessa Lee Hicks as Chorus Girl

            Adele Lakeland as Fanny Oakley

            Angus MacKay as Assistant Tailor

            Alan McMahon as Assistant Photographer

            Sally Nesbitt as Onlooker

            Jazzi Northover as Chorus Girl

            Caroline Paterson as Counter Girl

            Charlotte Pyecroft as Dukette--Backup Singer

            Tim Seely as King of England

            Jack Smethurst as Miranda's Father

            Dawn Spence as Chorus Girl

            Kirk St.James as Sax Player

            David Stoll as Butler

            Jennie Stoller as Female Newscaster

            Rudolph Walker as King Mulambon

            Richard Whitmore as Male Newscaster

            Michael Johnson as Hamilton

            Mary Selway
            
See full cast

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