While trying to decide what to watch together, my aunt and cousin discovered we had never seen (or heard of) The Princess Bride, and they insisted we had to watch it. I have such lovely memories of sitting on the floor in front of the TV with my brother and cousin (I can still remember their variegated brown carpet!), with my mom and aunt sitting on the couch behind us, all laughing and cheering through the whole movie. It was my first experience with a live-action fantasy movie, and my first swashbuckler. I was enchanted.
On the drive back to my grandparents' house where we were staying, I heard the Supremes song "Stop in the Name of Love" on the radio for the very first time, and that song has been indelibly linked with The Princess Bride forever in my mind.
I had read just enough fairy tales and adventure stories to understand a lot of how this movie was spoofing and subverting them. And I loved the framing device (though I didn't know that name for it) of the story being read to a little boy by his grandfather. But, most of all, I loved Westley (Cary Elwes). In fact, a year or two later, we named our new dog Westley after him.
The Princess Bride is based on a book by William Goldman, who also wrote the screenplay. It's about a sick little boy (Fred Savage) whose grandfather (Peter Falk) visits to cheer him up by reading him a book, The Princess Bride. The boy is skeptical about a book ever being fun, but grudgingly agrees to try not to fall asleep. And then, of course, gets increasingly invested in the story of Buttercup (Robin Wright) and Westley (Cary Elwes), to the point where he doesn't even mind having to listen to the kissing parts.
I'm not sure if I should even try to summarize this movie. It's so hard to do without ruining surprises and funny things! Buttercup and Westley fall in love, but he's poor, so he goes to sea to earn some money for their future life together. The Dread Pirate Roberts attacks his ship, and everyone knows the Dread Pirate Roberts never takes prisoners alive, so Buttercup is consumed with sorrow. Eventually, Prince Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon) sees her and decides she's the most beautiful girl in the kingdom, and that means she's the best, so he decides to marry her. Buttercup doesn't care what happens to her now that she has lost Westley, so she agrees.
And then Buttercup gets kidnapped by a giant named Fezzik (Andre the Giant), a swordsman named Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin), and a wise guy named Vizzini (Wallace Shawn). And then she gets kidnapped by the Dread Pirate Roberts. And then she gets rescued by Prince Humperdinck. And then she gets rescued by the Dread Pirate Roberts and Inigo and Fezzik. It's a very busy time for Buttercup.
It's full of sword fights and Rodents of Unusual Size and torture Machines and battles of the wits and double crosses. And I haven't even mentioned Miracle Max (Billy Crystal) and his wife (not witch) Valerie (Carol Kane), who are so funny that Mandy Patinkin reportedly cracked a rib during filming because he had to try so hard not to laugh during their scenes together.
If you have never seen this movie, you should. If you have seen it before, you should probably watch it again. It's a pure delight from beginning to end, unless you happen to be my BFF, who is the only person I know besides my dad who has seen it and not liked it. So... you might not love it. Or like it. Or find it funny. But it's such a cultural touchstone, you should see it at least once.
Is this movie family friendly? It has two cuss words in it. It has a non-gory torture scene, which we fast-forwarded through when my brother was little because it was too intense for him. It has a couple of kisses. It has a bit of swashbuckling violence, but again, nothing gory. I'd say it's great for ages 10+, and for younger viewers with a parent to fast-forward if their kids are sensitive or squeamish.
This has been my contribution to the Adventure-a-Thon hosted by Cinematic Catharsis and Realweegiemidget Reviews!