The Princess Bride (1987) "A special book"

“This is true love - you think this happens every day?” - Westley

It absolutely is true love and no, it does not happen often, let alone every day. I really loved this movie! I am without a doubt a comedy girl, so this movie was a perfect fit. My favorite movie is Robin Hood Men in Tights, so when I had the chance to see another comedy starring Cary Elwes I jumped at it. And I am really glad I did because it was hilarious and the British Isles scenery quite beautiful. A sick child (Fred Savage) is read a story by his grandfather (Peter Falk). The movie flashes back and forth between the boy’s bedroom and the story, a technique I found very engaging and one that allowed for another level of comedy. I was consumed by the story, forgetting that it was a narrated book, until it would flash back to the bedroom. In the tale, a very adorable Westley (Elwes) falls in love with Buttercup (a stupid name, played by Robin Wright). Westley’s goes off to make his fortune and Buttercup, believing him to be dead, becomes engaged to Prince Humperdinck (an awesome name, played by Chris Sarandon), who wants to kill her. He hires three fumbling criminals, Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin), Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), and Fezzik (Andre the Giant) to do this. They fail because Westley rescues her (of course he didn’t die!); he then has to go and rescue her again from the Prince who has reclaimed her (she is kinda a problem). The rest of the movie is the humorous series of events that unfold in his, and the now helpful Inigo and Fezzik’s, quest to successfully rescue her.

The narrative was in a storybook and not portrayed as trying to be real, so the cheesy lines, overdone acting, and R.O.U.Ss are both tolerable and funny. Some of the humor comes from this absolute absurdity. So you have to laugh and accept the fact that everyone is very polite and pleasant to their enemies before they try to kill each other. Westley is always cool, calm, collected, and courteous, Fezzik and Inigo are just so loveable, and Buttercup, well, she is simply there, helpless, waiting, suicidal, and irritating (I may not be hiding the fact she was my least favorite character of the group). Frankly, Westley is too smart for her and she was mean to him in the beginning, but who am I to stand in the way of true love?

The characters with minor parts actually have some of the best lines in the movie. Miracle Max and the Lady who ‘boos’ are both highly developed, funny, and great for the small amount of time they are on screen. It was also hilarious to see well-known actors (such as Billy Crystal as Miracle Max) pop up for brief roles throughout the movie.

Now for a couple things that I randomly noticed while watching this movie. Did anyone else realize that Westley does not seem to blink in the movie? Whenever there was a shot of him and Buttercup talking and his face was easily seen, he never blinks. Also, it seemed to me that Westley and Buttercup were like the same (except the gender part, of course) person. Call me crazy but they both have long blonde hair, similar bone structure, are pale, and just look really alike! Maybe that is why they like each other so much, but then that is just creepy. These quirks absolutely do not change my opinion on the movie, they are just odd.
Everyone should see this movie! I don’t really care if they want to, they just need to. It does not seem very 80’s as there are no clothes, lingo, or hair of that time in it, but these would not fit in with the plot anyways. It is timeless and I don’t think, or hope, that it will go anywhere anytime soon.