THE PRINCESS BRIDE (Rob Reiner, 1987) **1/2

Rating: 6/10 (13 March 2006)

I knew of this film's reputation as a cult item before going in but, for the life of me, despite a few amusing scenes scattered throughout, I just can't fathom why this is so! Pleasant though it is, it's patchy at best and it was never laugh-out-loud funny either. This is especially disappointing considering that the film was written by Oscar winner William Goldman (of BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID [1969] fame) and directed by Rob Reiner, who had earlier given us the uproarious THIS IS SPINAL TAP (1984)!
The admittedly eccentric cast struggles to evoke the fairy-tale quality inherent in the premise - with Wallace Shawn, Christopher Guest and Billy Crystal being the most successful at it - but, if the film was meant as a spoof, I'm sorry to say that it doesn't have much of a bite...especially since I can hardly remember anything about it a mere two days later!!