REVIEW DATE:3:21:9:9
REVIEW DATE:3:21:9:9
Make no mistake, parents of America, high school sucks. Of course, life itself usually sucks, but lets not get into that. For most America teenagers it can be one of the most humiliating, debilitating, and otherwise crappy times in their lives. But, strangely enough, it can also be filled with crossroads, whatever path you chose can (and, most likely, does) determine the course of the rest of your life.
Jesus, do I sound like an after school special, or
what?
The above paragraph, though as cliché ridden as a cookie cutter action movie, does have some baring on today's movie. While visiting her high school reunion Peggy Sue (Kathleen Turner) looks around at all her high school buddies and realizes how much her life sucks. Her husband, Charlie (Nicolas Cage) is a do nothing washing machine salesman, and has already cheated on her. She has become a stay at home mom during the 1980's : one of the worst things on earth anyone can be (unless of course you were going to high school in the mid '80s).
Overcome with this realization Peggy Sue faints (actualy she has a heart attack, whatever). . .and wakes up in the year 1960. As you can guess, Peggy experiences quite a case of temporal shock. What would you do if you suddenly woke up and you were 20 (well, 30 now) years in the past? At first Peggy doesn't know, she even thinks she's dead until the class nerd tests that theory by having her stand in front of an on coming fire truck.
Yes, despite my little preaching above Peggy Sue Got Married is actually a comedy. And a dang good one at that. The almost fairy tale like script, written by Jerry Leichtling and Arlene Sarner, is probably one of the most original time travel stories ever written, and is one of the reason I like this movie. The whole set up has a very, very intriguing appeal to it. Knowing what you know now, what would you change?
One other reason I like this movie is because it is directed by none other then Mr. Francis (he hasn't added the "Ford" to his name at this point) Coppola. Though I usually don't care that much about directors, I do like Coppola simply because I have given the thumbs up to a disproportionate number of his movies. Well get more on that in latter reviews.
Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!
That's right, kiddies, its time to pull out the Emergency Well Known Actor Alert system, and boy we have a triple header here, buckos. First we have Nick Cage, back when he could still pass for a teenager. Though still kind embryonic he carries his character well, but he walks through the middle of the movie with this weird accent that I just can't place. What's up with that!
Second on the list is none other then Truman himself: Jim Carry. When he got the part here it was two years after "The Duck Factory", Jimmy's short lived TV series, only one year after he played the virgin in Once Bitten, and "In Living Color" is still 4 years away. Because of that Carry is almost wasted here, probably because no one really knew what parts were right for him.
Last, but not least we have Helen Hunt, who, unless the IMDb is confusing me, had up until now whiled away in the land of Bad TV movies, and worse (insert first name here) Band movies. In Peggy Sue she plays Peggy Sue's daughter Beth, and since she has only 3 lines that I could see, I can't really gage her acting ability. To bad.
Rounding out the cast is Kathleen Turner as the titular character.Though believing that she is a teenager is a bit of a stretch in some scenes, Kathleen is just one of those actors whom I have yet to see do a bad movie, and Peggy Sue Got Married isn't even close to being a bad movie.. She's the female Jack Nicholson in may ways.
While I don't like this Kathleen Turner movie as much as Romancing the Stone, I still like Peggy Sue Got Married, because the story is more then your typical "Twilight Zone" time travel story. Also the whole movie has really got me thinking: if I went back, what would I change?
RATING (OUT OF A POSSIBLE FIVE)
A MUST SEE.