What can I say that has not already been said about The Princess Bride? Nothing. It’s been the subject of more critiques and commentaries than a person could count in a lifetime. So, against my nature, I’ll try to be brief.

The Princess Bride

The Princess Bride is a fantasy set in the fictional kingdom of Florin. It stars Cary Elwes (Twister) as Wesley, a simple farm boy who wants nothing more than to love and to be loved by Buttercup, played by Robin Wright (Forest Gump). She is the daughter of a local landowner/farmer, and she is of unsurpassed beauty.

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So that the two may be together, Wesley leaves to find his fortune and then vanishes. Meanwhile, the arrogant Prince Humperdink, hearing of Buttercup’s beauty, has her kidnapped and attempts to force her to wed him. It is then, that a mysterious masked figure begins hunting for the kidnappers and Buttercup.

Clearly, the magic of this film is not in the complexity of its plot. It is, however, in every other aspect of the movie. It is an ensemble piece with every character played to German-chocolate-cake perfection by each and every actor, and just like German chocolate cake, each character is rich and delicious.

Oftentimes, ensemble pieces can feel bloated, giving their cast members far too little time to develop and even less time to shine, not so for Princess Bride. Each character is perfectly defined and the dialogue is beautifully crafted for each, with no one doing or saying anything that doesn’t fit them.

Made at a time when people still knew how to tell a story, The Princess Bride is an exciting swashbuckling adventure, a laugh-out-loud comedy, a touching love story, and a stirring tale of revenge. It is one of the greatest fantasy films of all time.