The Princess Bride (1987)

"The Princess Bride" is that rare classic that can be enjoyed by all members of the family, regardless of age. It is also a cute, mostly clean comedy that won't bore adults or go over the heads of kids.

   In plotline #1, A sick little boy (played by 80's child-star Fred Savage) is presented by his grandfather (Peter O'Toole) with- not an Atari video game, as he no doubt would've hoped- but a leather bound book, 'The Princess Bride.'

   We are soon pulled into the book and it happenings- of its characters, and lively scenes of swashbuckling and daring-do. Princess Buttercup (Robin Wright Penn) loves Wesley (Carey Elwes,) a lowly stable boy, so naturally she torments him and heckles him with constant petty demands (I've never understood why these kind of women always get hitched first- ideas?)

    Wesley has neither the lineage nor the money to wed Buttercup, so he seeks his fortune at sea, where he meets an uncertain fate at the hands of the Dread Pirate Roberts. Swearing never to love again, the beautiful Buttercup is nevertheless pursued by the douchey Prince Humperdinck, but her kidnapping at the hands of a trio of oddballs only complicates things for the princess.

   The script here is a lot of fun, and the actors' near-perfect delivery of their lines results in one of the most quotable films in movie history. The acting is strong even from the minor players, including Christopher Guest as the devious Count Tyrone Dugan and Mel Smith as the expressive and quite sadistic albino.

   One complaint is Buttercup herself, who takes the cake as the most insipid movie princess of all time, and that includes the sappy, crappy, fragile princesses of early Disney. When she isn't planning her own suicide and badgering Wesley, Buttercup can usually be found crying tears that don't seem to dampen her crystal-clear complexion.

   Despite my animosity towards the fragile, soppy heroine, I concede that "The Princess Bride" is a both a perennial classic  and a movie worth cherishing and sharing with the younger generations, who may nonetheless be skeptical of the 80s' effects. Fun and excellently written, "The Princess Bride" is worth past-tripping for.

 

 

Liar Liar (1997)

Here's the thing about Jim Carrey- he can deliver a serious and heartfelt performance when you can rein him in and make him sit still for an hour and a half. He's like that ADHD-slash-spastic kid you knew in grammar school who ran laps around the classroom to the chagrin of an obese, middle-aged teacher who thought, in despair, I am NOT being paid enough for this.

"Liar Liar" gives Carrey the chance to spaz out, make ridiculous faces, and in one scene, literally beat himself up in a public bathroom. So don't expect the melancholic poignancy of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" or "The Truman Show." But if you want to laugh mindlessly at a comic actor at the height of his powers, this is one to give a watch.

Carrey plays Fletcher Reed, a slick lawyer who lies constantly, much to the exasperation and disappointment of his ex-wife Audrey (Maura Tierney) and son Max (Justin Cooper). Audrey is dating sweet but dopey Jerry (Carey Elwes of "As You Wish" stardom), but is ambivalent about taking the next step.