Princess Bride Film Review

                Normally I hate romantic comedies, but I was pleasantly surprised by The Princess Bride. The Princess Bride came out in theaters in 1987 and is based on the book by the same title, released in 1973. It was directed by Rob Reiner, who directed Stand by Me the year before, with the screenplay written by William Goldman, the writer of the book. The film stars Cary Elwes as the male protagonist, and Robin Wright as the leading lady.

                In The Princess Bride Buttercup (Robin Wright) and Westley (Cary Elwes) are two young people that fall in love and wish to marry. But with no money, Westley leaves to seek his fortune so that he can buy a ring and support his love. Five years later, after hearing news that Westley had killed by the Dread Pirate Roberts, Buttercup reluctantly agrees to marry Prince Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon), heir to the throne of Florin. Before the wedding, she is kidnapped by three outlaws: an extremely short Sicilian boss named Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), a Turkish giant named Fezzik (André the Giant), and a Spanish master fencer named Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin). The outlaws are pursued by Prince Humperdinck with a complement of soldiers, and quite separately, a masked man in black.

                 This film has a similar style of comedy and tone to the Mel Brooks film Robin Hood: Men in Tights. The film has sword fights, kidnapping, murder, and torture. But it’s handled light heartedly and swashbuckler like. Without giving too much away, there is a scene where the villain’s right hand man asks if he wants to be present for torturing the hero and the villain replies “… you know how much I love watching you work, but I've got my country's 500th anniversary to plan, my wedding to arrange, my wife to murder and Guilder to frame for it; I'm swamped.” And I’ll admit, up until that point I hated the villain (in a good way). He’s a conniving a-hole from privilege that always gets what he wants, but that line is delivered with such sincerity that I had to laugh at it. Which brings me to the acting, I thought was great. The actors fit their roles great and delivered their lines believably. I never had a moment where I thought a line sounded off. If the villain was played by a different actor, the line above may not have had as strong an affect as it did on me.

                One particular aspect of the film that I found endearing is that it is made a frame story. Above I mentioned how the film begins and plays out, well I actually left something out. The film actually begins a boy (Fred Savage) sick in bed when his grandfather (Peter Falk) comes by to read him a story. The story is The Princess Bride which is actually a book that this film was based on. Besides this being a cute Meta wink to the audience, it also serves as the way the film is presented. The story is framed, meaning that an introductory or main narrative is presented for the purpose of setting the stage for a more emphasized second narrative. The film is narrated by the grandfather, and the story is broken up as we go back to the grandfather and sick boy multiple times, reminding us that we are in fact in a story book. In fact, at the end of act two a major plot point is presented and the story immediately because the sick boy refuses to believe what just happened. The boy asks who kills the villain at the end, and the grandfather tells him nobody does. This is a shock and a major spoiler to the end of the film, but the film itself gives it. But I think it works even better this way. Now for the last act of the story, you’re wondering “Why isn’t the villain killed? Does he die by accident? What happens at the end?” You become even more invested in the story rather than deterred.

                Probably the strongest or most obvious theme of the film is that ‘True Love Overcomes All’. Westley goes though just about anything and everything to get to his love. He fights man, nature, beasts, and storms castles for her. Westley even overcomes death for his love of Buttercup. And you don’t have to take my work on the last one. He literally says that that’swhy he wants to come back to life.

                The Princess Bride is not the most thought provoking movie and can seem shallow to the more cynical. But it’s an entertaining film that has great comedic timing, writing, and acting. If you enjoy the silly comedic style of Mel Brooks films such as Blazing Saddles and Robin Hood: Men in Tights, then you should definitely see The Princess Bride. And if you haven’t seen those movies either, go watch those too!