Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)

I love this movie - it has emotion, heart, and smart writing/dialogue (by husband-and-wife team of Jerry Leichtling and Arlene Sarner, who unfortunately didn't write many other screenplays, per IMDB).

If you haven't seen this movie, it focuses on Katheleen Turner's character (Peggy), who at the start of the movie plays a 42 year old at her high school's 25th Anniversary Reunion, where she wishes what we all do - "if only I knew then what I know now".  Then - for the rest of the movie - she plays 17 and her character relives her high-school senior days in the spring of 1960. 

I don't think it's really a spoiler or a surprise if I say that the film (in my opinion) is very "Capra-esque", especially the ending...was her experience in 1960 all a dream, or did she actually time-travel back to 1960? Hmmmm. I still have fun thinking about that idea. You'll have to see it to fully understand what I mean. But there's profundity to it, too, as Peggy's relationships and fate may change as a result. 

So now it's time to shine a spotlight on the entire cast who make this movie so good - most of the main actors have the challenging task of playing two ages, 42 and 17, and they are all great - including Nicolas Cage, who plays Peggy's high school sweetheart of 2 years. 

I won't list the age of each actor, but all of them are either in their mid/late 20s or early 30s, and really convincing in both roles.

First I'll start with Kathleen Turner, course playing Peggy, a character with an adult mindset from 1985.  Of course, she plays both 42 and 17 fantastically. She was about 30 at the time when the movie was made/set, but when she plays both roles and delivers. 

Her scenes at school with Nicolas Cage are really great especially when she gets to say things to him she wished she would have said at 17; one of the best lines comes when Cage (who years later will cheat on Peggy) is expressing his jealously and says "when I imagine you going out with other guys, I feel...." and he can't find the words. Peggy says as an adult would...."rejected, worthless, and miserable? Good!". 

After awhile, Peggy realizes she is "trapped" in her predicament - is she dreaming or dead, she wonders. Then she does the most sensible thing anyone would do - reaches out to her school's high school expert on science (Barry Miller) and asks him if time travel is possible. She then begins to disclose some "future facts" she knows of (often humorously), such as heart transplants, man walking on the moon, televisions that get smaller, and radios "that get bigger" (referring to the boom boxes). Had the movie been made today, no doubt her character would reference the internet, smartphones, and Twitter for sure, but watching this movie reminded me that there were some pretty impressive achievements between 1960 and 1985. 

I enjoy seeing Peggy go directly to all the "forbidden" spots - her dad's liquor cabinet, the cigarettes hidden under the stairs. She argues with her dad and she humorously exclaims "I'm an adult --- I can do what I want!" and "I'm going to go to Liverpool and discover The Beatles!"

Another great scene is when Peggy sees her younger sister in 1960; her sister is a few years younger, perhaps 14 (played by Sofia Coppola - the only real teenager in the whole movie). The way Peggy responds to her is touching and convincing, she's almost in tears when she sees her. The details are not explained, but it makes me wonder if her sister had died tragically....or something bad happened to her where they became estranged or something and so therefore seeing her again would brought back alot of joy for Peggy.

The movie has a number of nice moments like that, especially when Peggy decides to visit her parents and grandparents -- both of whom  have died years prior to 1985. Sequences like these can make us think of our own relatives who passed and who we miss. Haven't we all dreamed about long-gone relatives or friends at one time or another? 

This is a really great performance by Kathleen Turner in one of her best movie roles in my opinion, and deserving on her Oscar nomination that year.

Next up, I wanted to write about Nicolas Cage in one of his first movie roles. At the start of the movie he's 42 and looks the age and is made up to look generally down-and-out and gruff, having made some questionable decisions in his life. Then, when the movie shifts to 1960, he's 17 and looks the age again, but this time he's optimistic and full of life and in love with Peggy, passionate about music, singing in a band, and his hair and wardrobe is made up to make him look like Fabian, who is his celebrity idol. (Full disclosure - I had to Google and look up Fabian to learn a little more about him LOL).  It's an amazing transformation, and even transforms his 1960 voice and mannerisms to match a teenager's. He's really good in this role. 

Jim Carrey is also in a small role, also playing 42 and 17. His character is meant to be something of a class clown and he really is - at both ages. His character only appears in few scenes, but I think it's just enough in my opinion - if he were in any more scenes, I think he would have unnecessarily stolen (or ruined) a good part of the movie with his comic antics. 

Also playing classmates are Joan Allen (The Crucible) and Catherine Hicks (Child's Play), and their costumes and makeup really convince you that they are teens, especially when they drive Peggy Sue home from school while "Tequilla" by the Champs plays on the radio.  

Kevin J. O'Connor was 22 but played 17, and played one of the "outcasts" of the school that Peggy reaches out to in 1960 and cheats on Nicolas Cage (who subsequently throws a jealous tantrum, but still professes his love for Peggy in the end).

John Barry's score, the costumers, set designers, and cinematographer deserve much credit for re-creating a very memorable and dream-like film. And it is superbly directed by Francis Coppola; in real-life, he is the same age and generation as the adult Peggy character so handles this film with a great sensibility for that late 50's/early 60s era. And of course, amazing job by the screenwriters who also have a great sensibility for the era and write some pretty funny, clever, and satirical dialogue without going over-the-top. 

I recommended the movie if you haven't seen it!

This post is part of the Fake Teenagers Blogathon!

Hosted by Taking Up Room (November 18-20, 2022)

P.S:  Realweegiemidget Reviews has a great post on this movie from a few years back!
It's a great post that features MORE about this awesome movie and its amazing cast!

Check out the post here!

Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)

This movie was available on Redbox recently and I decided to rent it for a night and rewatch it (after about 30 years). I had remembered some parts but not everything - I specifically remember the two lead slackers mispronouncing Socrates as So-Crates, which I thought was hilarious when I was in eighth grade. After all these years I really enjoyed this now-classic, which seems to hold up for the most part with the exception of a couple of unfortunate homophobic and sexist jokes. But there is alot I enjoyed; I really liked the ending at the school when they do their report - I had forgotten most of that sequence and it was cool to see again. Some of the time travel elements were a bit confusing to me and seemed like plot holes - for example if they become legends in the future, then why was there ever a need for them to fix their present situation? Oh well, I might have missed something so I won't question too much. As long as they had the time machine to bring back all the historical figures, the rest of the movie worked for me. 

There was a sequel from 1991 that I watched years ago as well, but have completely forgotten everything about it. I'd probably watch them both again sometime as a double feature.

And apparently there is a new, third movie that is coming out soon that I'm honestly not too excited about, but I heard an interview with the cast and they made it sound like it's fun so maybe I'll give it a watch some time.

Update: some other bloggers I follow have seen the new movie. I'll post the links here until I have a chance to see it myself.

Film Connoisseur |  Film Experience | Two Dollar Cinema

Back to the Future 2 (1989) and how it envisioned 2015

Sigh! Back in 1989 when I first saw the movie Back to the Future, Part 2, the year 2015 seemed like such a long time off. Now it's here! Sigh!! 

Even though many of the future ideas are meant for laughs, it's still kind of amazing how much the filmmakers got right about what life would be like in 2015; some examples below. (Flying cars and hoverboards are still a way off, though!)

Flat-panel, widescreen televisions

Watching multiple channels simultaneously
Video conferencing

Employers monitoring employees

Playing video games without using controllers

Outdoor video advertising

Drone cameras 

Making a payment using fingerprint 

Fingerprint scanning

Plastic surgery craze

Robotic fueling systems

Point and shoot digital cameras

Face detection cameras

Voice recognition for electronics

Operating computers without push-keys

Wearable computer glasses

Mobile tablets