So many perfect elements... Where to begin?

Rating: 10/10 (10 December 2011)

In '86 I was lucky to find an old paperback copy of William Goldman's "The Princess Bride" at a yard sale. I had already read some of his novels, and while I hadn't heard of this particular one, I quickly consumed it, enjoying it tremendously. It was a very clever, but ultimately affectionate, parody of fairy-tale conventions with an equally clever and complicated narrative. It was a fun, memorable book, and when I heard not long after about a film adaptation, I wondered how much of the book's clever tone would translate to the screen.
Quite a bit, as it turned out. Rob Reiner's movie version is an outstanding movie, and one that I was pleased to see holds up incredibly well, even a quarter-century later.
The brilliance to this movie is in its tone. As I said, it's a parody of fairy-tale conventions. Goldman's characters start out as cardboard-cutout stereotypes, and the events of the story itself are outlandishly improbable (up to and including resurrection), but even as the story gently mocks those conventions, it ultimately still depends on them in the end.
The characters are marvelous. Vizzini and his outbursts of "Inconceivable!!", kind-hearted Fezzik with his rhyming, and Inigo Montoya, with his graciousness, honor, and drive for revenge. Carey Elwes' Wesley is a great balance of clever humor and chivalry, and Robin Wright's Buttercup is a smart, strong fairytale princess. All the performances are note-perfect.
And the script is brilliant (as well it should be, with Goldman adapting his own novel). The dialogue sparkles, with enough memorable lines to fill a book. We get to love these characters, and care what happens to them (when Inigo finally gets the chance to avenge his father's death, it's surprisingly dramatic and emotional).
The story in the film is simpler than that of the book. Among other things, the book goes WAY further into Vizzini's, Fezzik's, and Inigo's backstories, and it's absolutely a worthwhile read, but there was no way it could have all been translated to the screen. As I say, it's an unusually good adaptation.
I enjoyed it even more than I did on its original release. That's an easy definition of "classic".