Welcome to Movies in The Park where we discuss some our favorite films based on weddings and romance. This week, the love story that spawned a thousand memes: “The Princess Bride.” Like any good cult classic, just reading the title has either made you well up in excitement, or you’re (more likely) asking “what’s The Princess Bride?” For a the latter group, a quick synopsis. A swashbuckling hero and a princess are two star-crossed lovers, aided by a band of friendly brigands in their quest to defeat an evil king and be reunited. All taking place in a land of high adventure.
Wait…come back. This gets better…we promise.
The script is deviously clever. It knows the audience is probably going to be rolling their eyes at the premise, so it tells the story in a frame narrative (a story within a story) with a genial grandfather reading the events of the story to his sick grandson. That the grandson starts off thinking the tale is corny is actually a clever wink to the audience; he’ll interrupt the story and make objections –both voicing the audiences’ opinions and beating them to the punch. A way to say, “we know what we’re doing. We know this is corny, and we’re having fun.” Not in a pretentious way, but in a fun way that doesn’t take itself too seriously. With every step, the film is gauging your expectations, and hedges a bold bet: that you’ll be won over despite your cynicism.
The film’s winking self-awareness frees it up to jump into its story of true love and light-hearted adventure with both-feet. It’s a kind of confidence that’s seldom found even with big budget Hollywood blockbusters made today. And yes, the film does involve a wedding, of course, but we’re staying committed to being a spoiler-free review. If you’re looking for a quiet weekend with your partner, a film about love that expects you to laugh at it might be just thing to grab some popcorn and cuddle up to.
The Princess Bride is available for DVD rental on Netflix.
Or you can stream it via Amazon movies.
Photos courtesy of Amazon.com.
