The Whipping Boy (1994)

Sadly Over-hyped

It is a performances centric movie

Absolutely the worst movie.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Excellent adaptation of the book of the same title. Actually, the screen writer and the book author are the same person with different names. The story is set sometime in the late middle ages. Judging by the common use of the 3 cornered hat, I would judge it to be in the 17th or 18th century. It takes place in the tiny fictional kingdom of Bratenberg. The main characters are Jemmy(Truan Munro), also known as the whipping boy, and Prince Horace or Brat(Nic Knight).They are supposed to be around 12 years old, although the actors were a bit older. Fortunately, they look quite different otherwise, so that they are easily distinguished. Jemmy has a slightly younger sister: Annyrose(Karen Salt). They are street orphans. To survive, Jemmy catches sewer rats, puts them in a wicker cage, and sells them to Blind George(George Scott) or someone else.......Prince Horace is a chronically mischievous brat, bored with his confined life, with no children to play with, little attention by the king, and no interest in his studies. In fact, he is functionally illiterate: most embarrassing for a future king. This fact will become relevant when he and Jemmy, who have escaped from the castle, are kidnapped by two thieves(Kevin Conway, as Hold-Your-Nose Billy and Vincent Schiavelli as Cutwater.) Jemmy is Horace's whipping boy. That is , when Horace has been bad, Jemmy is whipped instead, since young princes are not supposed to be subject to corporal punishment. Now, a former street urchin wasn't expected to read and write. But, Jemmy was inquisitive and had picked up these skills while in the castle. So, when the thieves asked Horace, who claimed to be the prince, to write a ransom letter, he couldn't, whereas Jemmy did. Naturally, the thieves surmised that the boys had switched identities to confuse them. Sometime later, after the boys had escaped several times, the thieves held Horace upside down, and whipped him until the pet bear of Gypsy teen Betsy(Mathilda May) chased them away.......A potato transporter gave them a ride on his wagon to near to where they wanted to go. Forgetting about her bear, Betsy also came along, as she seemed to have a thing going with the potato man. They soon arrived at Waldbach prison, where they believed Annyrose was being held, for a trumped charge of theft. At the prison gate, Horace claims he is the crown prince, so should be let in. The receptionist scoffs at this claim, dubbing him Prince of the Ragamuffins. ......After another eventful chase by the thieves, they arrived back at the castle. The king was relieved that Horace hadn't been kidnapped by order of the ambassador to the neighboring nation ruled by King Phillip. The ambassador had left smarting from the several tricks played upon him by Horace.......The king noticed an improvement in Horace's behavior which he ascribed to his experience in the real world, and the friendship of Jemmy. Thus, the king declared Jemmy and Annyrose to be members of the royal household. He declared a pardon for Annyrose, who piped up that she didn't need a pardon, since she hadn't done anything wrong. The king understood. .....One thing I didn't understand: Why was the sewer tunnel the boys and thieves were running through apparently dry, when there was water running into it? .....Like the book, this film is especially appropriate for children and teens, but adults, such as me, will probably enjoy it too. The attention to detail in dress and surroundings is commendable......I didn't detail some of Horace's tricks. One of them will give you quite a jolt. See the film to find out what it is. It's currently available on YouTube

Remember when Disney made good movies? And actually treated child viewers like they could think? Do you miss those days every time you see Miley Cyrus and those twins from Big Daddy? Then look no further! The Whipping Boy is one of those movies both adults and children can truly enjoy. It tells the story of two very different pre-teen boys in the German kingdom of Brandenberg. Jemmy is a tenacious orphan who catches rats to support himself and his younger sister Annyrose. Horace is the mean-spirited prince who entertains himself by causing mischief and embarrassment or pain to other people. After refusing to give the prince a cage of rats for free, Jemmy is captured by Horace's servants to become his whipping boy. Horace is angered and dismayed when Jemmy shows him no respect, and disobeys his orders to cry and scream when he is whipped for Horace's purposeful transgressions. Jemmy is determined to escape the castle to take care of his sister, and refuses to give Horace the satisfaction of seeing him cry. Meanwhile, Jemmy's sister Annyrose is running out of rent money and devastated at her brother's disappearance. While trying to ask for help to read a letter he sent her, she is falsely accused of theft and sent to prison. Horace's father the king is also very busy sorting out boundary issues with a neighboring kingdom. So busy that he never has a moment for Horace, and continually breaks promises to spend time with him. After Jemmy discovers Annyrose's imprisonment, and Horace's father loses his temper, the two boys decide to put their differences aside and run away together. On their journey the boys encounter kidnappers, a bear, a gypsy, and a potato salesman. More importantly, the two boys bond and develop a truly believable friendship. They learn that both has his own struggles and difficulties in life, and that they can help each other through that. The kids aren't the only ones who end up learning a lesson, and both boys' families and the entire kingdom are all better in the end.The Whipping Boy is truly a gem of a movie. It's the kind of film that entertains and teaches a lesson, without beating the viewer over the head with it. It feels no need to dumb down the plot, nor water down the abuse simply because it is for children. Despite its 18th century atmosphere, the characters are realistic and easy to relate to. It teaches some of life's most important lessons: everyone has problems no matter how much(or little)money they have, children need to learn empathy and have discipline, and pay attention to your children. This is what every children's movie should strive to be.

In Europe at a time when men of the aristocracy wear powdered wigs and Leonardo da Vinci has figured out man can fly, Jemmy lives on the street with his sister Molly. He makes a living by catching rats and selling them to Blind George, who can see out of one eye. Horace is a prince and heir to the throne, and he apparently does not have to live by any rules. Because he is bored and he believes his parents ignore him, he goes through the town creating havoc and never gets punished.Well, that's not entirely true. If his parents believe Horace needs to be punished, a 'Whipping Boy' will take the spankings. Jemmy is chosen for that duty. Meanwhile, his sister is put in a sort of prison and Jemmy wants to get her out.Despite the fact that he is to take over the throne someday, Horace refuses to learn anything from his tutor, who discovers that Jemmy is more educated than the prince and also eager to learn more. When Jemmy's mother was still alive, she valued education.Because they are both unhappy, Jemmy and Horace eventually run away and have a series of adventures. Meanwhile, there is a dispute between the kingdom where Horace lives and a neighboring country, and the boys' disappearance doesn't help matters.Cutwater and Hold-Your-Nose-Billy are among the funnier villains in this movie. There is also a dancing bear named Petunia, who is cared for by a gypsy girl named Betsy who becomes the boys' friend.This is a funny family movie with good performances by many of the leading actors, especially the adults. There is little here to concern parents. Cutwater and Billy are a little scary but not really anything to be worried about. If you don't like 'Fear Factor', you may be bothered by some scenes with rats.Overall, this was a fun adventure.

This adaptation of the popular children's book, The Whipping Boy, succeeds very well!I enjoyed the entire movie from beginning to end - it stays very close to the story, with an extra element or two added in. These do not divert from the original story but simply add to it.The story is well-acted and authentic, the villains and the children are good fun. If you like a light but moving story, this is the movie for you!A special note is that Max Brindle, credited for writing the screenplay, is actually a pseudonym for Sid Fleischman, author of The Whipping Boy. (See The Abracadabra Kid, Sid Fleischman's autobiography.)Enjoy the movie! Although it was made for television, you can find it on video.