The Princess Bride
Before Roddy Piper ran out of bubblegum,
Hulk Hogan thundered into paradise or The Rock developed arachnid lower
appendages, André the Giant was cavorting around atop a wheelbarrow, clad in a
flammable robe called a holocaust cloak and yelling something incomprehensible
about "the dread pirate Roberts." Behold The Princess Bride,
the film that introduced Robin Wright to the world, proved pro-wrestlers can be
intentionally funny and still represents a career high for most of its participants,
including director Rob Reiner, screenwriter William
Goldman (adapting from his own, equally funny novel) and stars Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin (utterly
convincing as a vengeful Spanish swordsman), Chris Sarandon (thanklessly cast
as the sole straight man) and a transcendent Wallace Shawn, who'd probably
rather you remember his dinner with that other Andre, but, oh well.
Though not as visually impressive as comparable Terry Gilliam fare such as Jabberwocky,
the verbal wit is fast and abundant (abetted with cameos by Billy Crystal,
Peter Cook and Mel Smith), and you'd better believe the midnight movie crowd
will remember almost all of it. It's debatable whether or not the film really
needs the wraparound segments with Peter Falk and Fred Savage, and we certainly
could've done without My Giant,