The Ultimate Fantasy Movie?

Rating: 7/10 (31 July 2009)

The Princess Bride is one of the most sincere and heartfelt fantasy movies I've ever seen. The movie is framed as a story that a grandfather reads to his sick grandson and it's a perfect idea for a movie that has some tongue-in-cheek takes on fantasy clichés.
The story begins with Buttercup (Robin Wright Penn) and Westley (Cary Elwes), two farmers who fall in love. He decides to leave and return one day a rich man to marry her. Then she hears he was killed by a pirate and Prince Humperdinck decides to make her his bride. But when they least expect Westley returns for 'true love' and the story turns into one of the funniest and most fast-paced adventure ever. There are deadly eels, giant rodents, dangerous forests, giants, revenge-obsessed swordsmen, and miracles. The heroes are noble and fair, and the villains despicable. And true love wins in the end. A movie has never been more honest about its intentions than The Princess Bride.
The cast is mostly great, especially Cary Elwes and Mandy Patinkin, a swordsman looking for the man who killed his father. Penn could have been a more interesting character than the usual damsel in distress, but I guess some clichés you just don't touch. Peter Falk has a short but adorable role as the grandfather trying to pass to his grandson some of the pleasure of reading books.
The Princess Bride is a wonderful story that should appeal to anyone who never lost their sense of wonder and who still like to see the good guys truly win without compromises, something rare these days in mainstream cinema. It's a charming movie that has no pretensions about what it is and which does everything right. Watch it and love it!