The Princess Bride

Release Date: September 25, 1987

Watch Date: January 29 – February 4, 2024

“A man regales his ailing grandson with a tale of romance and adventure in this lighthearted fairy tale.”

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   It’s been a bit.

   Our son turned 6, that was a whole thing. Basically a whole weekend. A cold ran rampant through our house, sending Bob to urgent care for treatment of his asthma and leaving me exhausted and missing a day of work. We got more pet aquatic snails, and some fry, and don’t get me started on the snail thing that’s a whole saga. We have more than any reasonable person should at this point.

   So this movie took a bit to watch. But it was important to watch it because Bob never had and that feels like a crime.

   This movie is infinitely quotable, and Bob even knew some of the quotes without ever having seen the movie. It’s well written, it’s fast paced, cheesy, heart felt and serious. Some of the acting is flat, but some of the characters are written purposefully flat so I’m going to say that in this case it’s good acting. The scenes between the grandfather and his sick grandson are heartwarming.

   Is this movie starting to look old, yes. Does it kind of look like something that a college kid would make? Yes. But that’s part of the charm. The costumes aren’t great, the sets look like someone just wandered out into the woods, but it’s all sweet. It’s all charming. It all fits perfectly with this narrative of a kooky fairytale romance that borders on the absurd. If you’ve ever read the novel it captures the feeling of reading the book perfectly.

   This movie is just…it’s charming. It’s cozy. It’s something familiar to come home to after a long day. It’s not the best movie, but it’s one of the most recognizable. It’s something you can share with your kids, something with jokes you can understand as an adult. And Buttercup and Westley’s true love, I mean, who doesn’t want that?

   If you’re feeling like the sick kid at the beginning of the movie, a little bit like Bob was when I told him he was going to watch this comedy/romance/fantasy movie from the late 80s, I hope you’ll be like both the kid – and Bob – at the end of it. Eager to watch it, or hear it again, enchanted by characters that have no business being as enchanting as they are, and quoting the lines ad infinitum.