Two very endearing lead characters carry a weak comedy

Rating: 7/10 (12 July 2018)

Bill & Ted for a time became the common nomenclature for two dumb guys, which is kind of surprising since this film was never considered a classic, but it's also not so surprising since this comedy is as likable and unpretentious as it's two main characters. The silly story has the two not-so-bright So-Cal dudes, Alex Winter (Bill S. Preston, Esq.) and Keanu Reeves (Ted "Theodore" Logan), hoping to form their band Wyld Stallyns, but Ted's dad is going ship him off to military school because of failing grades, which the only way he can bring them up is by nailing his history report and presentation to "Express to the class how an important historical figure from each of your time periods would view the world of San Dimas, 1988." Enter a time traveling George Carlin as Rufus, who gives the pair a time machine to kidnap historic figures to help him finish and nail the assignment. The duo go back in time to kidnap Billy the Kid, Abraham Lincoln, Joan of Arc (Jane Wielding), Socrates, Sigmund Freud, Napoleon, Genghis Khan, and Beethoven and mild hilarity ensures. Time travel is a ripe premiss for any number of genres and it's roots in comedy go back to the days of Mark Twain, where he mined similar culture clash humor of past and modern day ideas and values. However, that may be overstating the level of the humor in this film. Bill shouting "You medieval dickweed!" is pretty funny, but that's about as funny and clever as this film gets, although Al Leong as Genghis Khan tearing up a sporting goods store is a close second. Despite the mediocre humor, I think the under appreciated element that made Bill & Ted work is the likability of the two main characters. Bill and Ted are kind, caring, and earnest, even if they're not the sharpest knives in the drawer. Winter and Reeves fully commit to their dumb-guy roles. So well in fact that it took Reeves years to not automatically be pigeonholed by audiences as a doofus, despite appearing in plenty of straight roles ranging from "Speed" to "My Own Private Idaho" to the underrated and somewhat forgotten "River's Edge." So despite the film's humor not being all that clever, Bill and Ted's infectious likability and unpretentiousness carry the film, making it enjoyable to this day. Bernie Casey and Diane Franklin also appear in the film.