A classic

Rating: Null/10 (23 February 1999)

The Princess Bride is a film with an appeal that is nearly impossible to really analyze. I've had countless people tell me how much they love it, but nobody has ever been able to define exactly what is so great about it. It is an undeniably silly film, with its strange blend of comedy, fantasy, romance, and adventure, its eccentric characters, goofy dialogue, and unrealistically cinematic locales. And yet all these elements somehow come together to create the best film of 1987, and a classic for all times. I have seen it perhaps more times than any other movie, which is a little odd because there are other films that I like more than this one. But this film stands in a class of its own. There has never been a movie quite like it. Rob Reiner does a brilliant job of juggling the disparate, even contradictory, elements and blending them together seamlessly. William Goldman actually improved on his original novel with a screenplay that is funnier, sweeter, and altogether more tightly written than the book (although he did leave out Buttercup's wonderful speech to Westley when she confesses her love to him, which would have made a great addition to the film). It is perfectly cast, with Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, and the ever-brilliant Christopher Guest as stand-outs. It's just a marvelous film that defies description or labels.