The Princess Bride

Maybe not too surprisingly, a poorly young lad (Fred Savage) isn’t so keen on lying in bed being read a slushy romance about a princess by his granddad (Peter Falk) but he knows this book has been passed down through generations of the family and so decides to indulge the well-meaning gent. It doesn’t get any more scintillating for him when he is introduced to the lovelorn heroine “Buttercup” (Robin Wright) who has lost the love of her life “Westley” (Cary Elwes) and in return been saddled with the foppish “Prince Humperdinck” (Chris Sarendon). Fortunately for her, she is kidnapped by a rather un-intimidating band of felons led by “Vizzini” (Wallace Shawn) with the giant “Fezzik” (André René Roussimoff) and elegant swordsman “Montoya” (Mandy Patinkin) in tow, too. It turns out that they are all being pursued by the dastardly “Dread Pirate Roberts” who just happens to be the evil man who robbed her of her beloved “Westley”. Of course, when the prince finds out his betrothed has been abducted, he determines to fetch her back and so he employs the services of “Rugen” (Christopher Guest) to join this tale of pin the tail on the princess. The thing is, as we quite quickly discover - there has been quite a bit of misinformation spreading over the years and the young woman is in for quite a shock as her travels become less travails and more a triumph. Can she still manage to avoid becoming the princess bride though? I enjoyed this theatrically presented and colourful romp as it manages to mix elements of Gilbert and Sullivan with lots of swash and buckle, some genuinely entertaining pantomime-style villainy, loads of acrobatics and yes, even a slight soupçon of romance that could make the young reader (and us, too) cringe a little. Elwes and Wright work really quite well together, and with Roussimoff and Patinkin helping it to keep it’s magical tongue in it’s mystical cheek, the whole film is a rollicking good series of escapades and antics that just goes to show what can be done with some creative and imaginative production design, a lively and mischievous score and some talent in front and behind the camera who all seemed to be having a great time. Time has been kind to this, and those of us brought up on “Zorro” and C.S. Lewis with a bit of Errol Flynn thrown in too, ought to enjoy this. I did.