Do You Think This Happens Every Day?

Rating: 10/10 (29 June 2006)

From the opening shot of a 1980s era computer game to the Mark Knopfler song which accompanies the closing credits, nothing makes this reviewer yearn more for the days of childhood. Witty, clever, moving and brilliant, The Princess Bride is less movie and more masterpiece.
The classic plot-within-a-plot works marvellously here, with the fabulously crusty Peter Falk playing the eccentric grandfather who reads the story of the Princess Bride to his sick-of-school grandson (wee Freddy Savage). The latter's typical boy bedroom gives way to the lush storybook scenery of Florin and Guilder: The Fireswamp; The Thieves Forest; The Pit of Despair; The Cliffs of Insanity. What ten-year-old could resist? Robin Wright does an enviable job playing the Princess Buttercup, but it is Cary Elwes who is the real star here, playing Westley/The Man in Black/Dread Pirate Roberts (all the same man) in the role of his career. Dashing, mysterious, but always acerbic ("the Fireswamp certainly keeps you on your toes") he skates and shimmies his way through this movie, drawing together a mutated group of merry men  the swashbuckling swordsman intent on revenge, the giant with a heart of gold and a penchant for rhyme. His mission, of course, is timeless: dispense with the bad guy (the evil price, naturally), save the kingdom and run away with the girl. Classic.
Wesley and Buttercup's initial romance  "hear this now: I will always come for you"  belies the tone for the rest of the film; with its sweetness and innocence the viewer may be forgiven for thinking the film is going to be devoid of darkness. On the contrary there are a few things that occur that give a glimpse of the underbelly of what initially seems perfect: the malicious Vizzini, upon encountering Buttercup riding in the forest, tells her that as there is no one around for miles, "then there will be no-one to hear you scream." Or the fact that after being forced to marry the evil Prince Humperdinck, Buttercup almost knifes herself in the heart. This uneasy wedding between storybook and darkness is reminiscent of the Brothers Grimm (the actual writers, not the awful movie) and in fact the movie as a whole is like this. The viewer gets the feeling that in order for there to be happiness, an equal amount of sadness must be dispensed elsewhere. As a child viewer these complex concepts might not be realised but they are appreciated  there is no way that one would want the prince to get away scot-free, and the fact that he does jars. Although that's not the way life works, it should be the way children's movies work, and that may have been this reviewer's first fully-formed adult thought in a world of barbie dolls, the Muppet Show and peel-off nailpolish.
Whew. But I digress. The darkness adds brilliantly to the film, fleshing it out into a saga which hooks the viewer to the very last frame. The script complements the epic cinematography  Billy Crystal's turn as a miracle man is particularly good ("true love is the greatest thing in the world! Except a nice MLT  mutton, lettuce and tomato sandwich, when the mutton is nice and lean and the tomato's fresh")  and there are laughs all the way for adults and children alike. Huge laughs. Belly laughs. Laughs of complete astonishment and glee. It is a very sophisticated and layered script which continues to delight and surprise after multiple viewings, as when Buttercup warns Wesley of the ROUSes. "Rodents of Unusual Size?" He retorts, "I don't think they exist." Many of the best lines go to the support cast:
Fezzik: I just don't think it's right, killing an innocent girl. Vizzini: Am I going MAD, or did the word "think" escape your lips? You were not hired for your brains, you hippopotamic land mass.
But the leads also get their share, with Westley replying to Humperdinck's call to surrender, "you mean you wish to surrender to me? Very well, I accept." Inigo the revenge-bent Spaniard marvelling that the boat behind their one is catching up to them  "I wonder if he is using the same wind we are using?" And let's not even mention the Impressive Clergyman's speech impediment.
Overall the inversion of the classic fairytale genre and the brilliant acting and script are tied together with the whimsical and stylish directing of Rob Reiner. Like an onion the viewer can peel away at this movie to see what's underneath, then peel some more. The direction never descends into flippancy but nor does it escalate into snobbishness, and Reiner is content to let the film unfold at it's natural pace. Of course after many, many viewings it is hard for this reviewer to pretend to have any degree of impartiality when writing, but surely this lack of objectivity demonstrates exactly what a good movie should achieve: a love of it over and above things that make sense. Like the Fireswamp this movie keeps one on their toes. I am, of course, awarding 10 stars to what remains a nostalgic memory and what is still a masterpiece of film-making.