Wick's Review

Summary - Really Great 4.5

Some hamminess and a novelty title slightly sully Francis Ford Coppola’s sexy-sweet Sixties comedy. Otherwise, it’s a lock for most likely to succeed – LOL, saucy, smart, sophisticated and star-powered.

A brilliant high school movie, told looking backwards, its conceit is to send Kathleen Turner time-traveling from her 25th Reunion back to high school, with her fortysomething mind, memories and regrets intact.

Who says you can’t go home again? Meet your Mom after you are a Mom? Freaky.

Real funny too, as when a grown Peggy Sue gets drunk in front of her parents, creating an 80 proof LOL.

The jaw dropping cast sports Nic Cage in one of his best roles, Jim Carrey as his high school wingman, Joan Allen as a four-eyed schoolgirl and Helen Hunt as Kathleen Turner’s daughter, to name a few. Made in ‘86, most weren’t even stars yet.

Showy as hell, Coppola’s confection will be over-the-top for some.

Me? I can see it going on heavy rotation. With Netflix streaming it OD, it’s free fun.

Fun fantasy flicks rarely sustain let alone fulfill ambition. PSGM fulfills with ease, laughing all the way.

Acting - Perfect 5.0

Kathleen Turner burnished her status as one of the sexiest stars ever playing Peggy Sue. Few actresses have had her alluring combo of voice, looks and smarts. Just past 30 when the movie was made, she looks a frazzled 40 in the opening scenes, then downright perky when back in high school.

Nicolas Cage nearly chews the scenery as a nasal hunk with “the hair, the teeth” and the entitled attitude. Directed by his Uncle Francis, Nic Coppola performs with first cousin Sophia as his future sister-in-law. Gotta hand it to this Hollywood Prince, he fills outsized roles like few others.

Some others from the huge cast:

• Jim Carrey, as his wingman, flashes the comic brilliance that soon made him a superstar.
• Kevin J. O’Connor channels Kerouac effectively as the class beatnik.
• Joan Allen almost disappears behind large glasses, but comes through as she always does. A Coppola favorite, she appeared a couple of years later in his Tucker.
• Don Murray, Marilyn Monroe’s leading man in Bus Stop, easily plays Peggy Sue’s martinet father.
• Sophia Coppola got some parts she didn’t deserve in her father’s movies. The role of Peggy Sue’s little sister was one of them.
• Maureen O’Sullivan & Leon Ames play her grandparents. O’Sullivan is a movie queen herself and the mother of Mia Farrow. Ames played Judy Garland’s father in Meet Me in St. Louis.

Film - Really Great 4.5

The Wizard of Oz dream/time travel mechanism works like a charm, making Peggy Sue a stranger in the strange land of her own teen years. As high concepts go, this one rocks. Coppola applies his trademark dreamy production values to husband and wife team Jerry Leichtling and Arlene Sarner’s charming and very funny script.

Edge - Risqué 1.9

Bad adult habits push the PG-13 envelope. Peggy Sue’s adult come-on to her high school boyfriend is dirty fun.

Reality - Glib 1.4

I’m assuming that the trip back to high school occurred in Peggy Sue’s dream, making the rFactor much lower than if she really did go back in time.

• Feed
• Movies
• ViewLists
• NewOnDemand