By Steven Suskin
08 Oct 2006
Director Rob Reiner (the "All in the Family" sitcomedian, who had recently established himself as a film director with "This Is Spinal Tap" and "Stand By Me") and novelist-screenwriter William Goldman (of "Butch Cassidy" and the unparalleled Broadway chronicle "The Season") teamed together in 1987 for The Princess Bride. Take one of those old Errol Flynn swashbucklers and run it through a filter of good-natured kidding; mix it with an ingratiating cast; and provide just a touch (but not too much) of the 2,000 Year Old Man treatment. What you get is charming and enormously good-natured entertainment. "The Princess Bride" is kind of like "Shrek" without the layer of twenty-first century rudeness. Excessively and deliciously droll, you might call it.
Reiner found a couple of enchanting young leads, Cary Elwes and Robin Wright; supported them with the sturdy and accomplished Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, Christopher Guest and Wallace Shawn; and – for good measure – threw in "special appearances" by Peter Falk, Carol Kane and Billy Crystal. There's even a giant, played by Andre the Giant. The two-disc "Buttercup Edition" is decked with assorted features, including commentary from both Reiner and Goldman -- two incisive artists well worth listening to for the 98-minute running time. "The Princess Bride" is all in good fun; and, 20 years on, remains all good fun.
—Steven Suskin, author of "Second Act Trouble," "A Must See! Brilliant Broadway Artwork," "Show Tunes," and the "Opening Night on Broadway" books. He can be reached at Ssuskin@aol.com.
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