Charming and funny with a wide audience appeal................

Rating: 7/10 (13 August 2008)

I was not ten years old when I first saw "The Princess Bride",far,far from it.And it isn't,despite hundreds and hundreds of pleas on this site,one of the greatest movies ever.Sorry,but it just ain't so.It is rather sweet,aimed at children but movie - savvy adults will enjoy much of it. Mandy Patinkin and Cary Elwes get in some neat swordplay,Robin Wright is very pretty if a little wooden.The rest of the cast ham it up to a greater or lesser degree(think Alan Rickman in almost anything).Along with Bryan Forbes' "The slipper and the rose","The Princess Bride" represented a late 20th century take on the fairy story.Mr Forbes used music and dance and "serious" actors,Mr Reiner a script by William Goldman that worked on many levels and young,vigorous actors.I suspect it succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.