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 he real star of 1987's "The Princess Bride" is
writer William Goldman ("Hearts
in Atlantis"), whose screenplay is at once trite, romantic, effective,
and minimalistic. "Bride" is the type of movie that would be perfectly
at home with the title card "once upon a time" opening up over black.
Instead we get Peter Falk and Fred Savage as grandfather and grandson,
respectively, with the former reading the "Bride" story to his sick
grandson.
More humorous than funny, but always irreverent, "The
Princess Bride" follows stable boy Westley (Cary Elwes) and his true love
Buttercup (Robin Wright). When Westley leaves town to pursue his wealth in order
to marry Buttercup, he ends up supposedly dead on the high seas. Meanwhile, the
grief-stricken Buttercup is chosen by the vain Prince Humperdinck (Chris
Sarandon) to be his princess bride. Things take a strange turn when 3 oddball
crooks abduct Buttercup and a masked man in black appears to pursue them. Who is
the man in black, and what exactly is Humperdinck's relationship to the
criminals?
Essentially a movie version of a long joke, "Princess
Bride" has become something of a cult film, with many of its lines
immortalized in the vast community called "fanboys". It's all owed to
Goldman, who also wrote the original novel. The movie is completely lacking in
any seriousness at all, despite the fact that then-newcomer Robin Wright ("Unbreakable")
plays her Buttercup as perhaps a tad too serious. As a result, she looks like
the only one in the entire movie who doesn't "get" the joke.
As the man in black and Buttercup's soulmate, Cary Elwes
("Comic Book
Villains") looked destined for greatness after this movie. Alas this
didn't quite work out, since Elwes has been resigned to mostly small and
supporting roles since. The other memorable characters are wrestler Andre the
Giant, who plays the kindhearted but not-so-smart Fezzik; Mandy Patinkin (TV's
"Chicago Hope") as Spaniard swordsman Inigo Montoya, who has spent
most of his life looking for the six-fingered man who killed his father. And
Chris Sarandon ("Fright Night") plays the villain with the right
combination of cunning and cowardice.
Known mostly for its flippant attitude and clever dialogue,
"The Princess Bride" is nothing to take seriously. Director Rob Reiner
("Stand
By Me") shows little concern for the fact that much of the
movie's sets are just that -- obviously movie sets. We're talking about fake
rocks, trees, forests -- everything is so obviously fake that you can't help but
chuckle at. The film sometimes looks like a high school theater production, only
less convincing. Then again, wasn't that the point?
There's nothing about "The Princess Bride" that
will make you laugh out loud. It's not that kind of movie. Most of its humor is
derived from clever wordplay thanks to wordsmith William Goldman. It's a silly
movie, but it's also the kind of movie that will make you smile every time.
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