The Princess Bride

            "The Princess Bride" has been in the news a lot lately in honor of its 25^th anniversary. It also happens to be one of my absolute favorite movies. I saw it for the first time when I was around 10 years old. My older sister showed it to my brother and me. Since that day, I have seen the movie many times, and even though I haven’t seen it in a little while, I remember it vividly. For these reasons, I decided to write about this movie first.

This 1987 movie, directed by Rob Reiner, was created from the book written by William Goldman. The movie starts with a grandpa reading the book to his sick grandson. As he reads, the story comes to life. Westley (Cary Elwes) goes to save Buttercup (Robin Wright) from marriage to Prince Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon). She only agreed to marry the prince because she thought Westley, her true love, had died. During the course of the movie, Westley and Buttercup encounter some interesting characters including a revenge-driven swordsman, a strong giant and a man whose brilliance is inconceivable.

Guys, don’t let the title of this movie or the basic premise scare you away. Its action and humor are incredibly entertaining. This movie has a ton of great, quotable lines you won’t soon forget. I’d write you a whole page of my favorite lines, but that would ruin the surprise.

As handsome as Cary Elwes is, the comedy is what makes this movie work. The writer took a different spin on the everyday fairy tale. The characters don’t take themselves too seriously. The actors played this very well. Even though they were being ridiculous sometimes, they never played it like they knew that to the audience. One of my favorite examples of this is Miracle Max played by Billy Crystal, who has been the host for the Academy Awards several times. I love how Buttercup isn’t a completely defenseless girl as well, which is unusual for a fairy-tale princess.

I also love Cary Elwes in the movie "Robin Hood: Men in Tights" as Robin Hood and his three episodes in the television show "Psych" as Pierre Despereaux. He plays a similar role in these characters, with his comedy stealing the show.

This movie is loved by so many people with great reason. As they say, don’t be a Humperdinck. Watch this movie the first chance you get. After seeing it one time, you’ll be hooked like the rest of us. You’ll see why it’s still such a celebrated movie after 25 years.