Peggy Sue Got Married

I rented this film the other night when I knew I would be alone - that's just the way I have to watch this, alone - guess I'm not comfortable with people seeing me cry. I cried when it was in the theatres in 1986 and I've seen it maybe 10 times now - and it gets me each and every time, as if I were watching for the very first time! Sorry to drone on, but it has just the right touch - you've heard a lot of comparisons with "Back to the Future" - believe me, it isn't! If you liked the two movies I mentioned in my header, especially "Frequency" since it is about to be released on video - you will love this film!

Kathleen Turner was excellent - I have seen Debra Winger (originally scheduled to play the title role) in several films, including "Terms of Endearment" and though I respect her as an actress, she just couldn't have done this part justice. Nicolas Cage was great in his role - the whiny voice was a bit much - but it's hard to believe he was only 21 when this film was made. He plays a high school kid and a guy in his 40's equally well - he's always had a gift for that. Jim Carrey - then mostly unknown - displays some of the physical slapstick routines that would later earn him praise and renown. Then there's Joan Allen - as I saw this movie for the first time, I thought how much she resembled former first lady Pat Nixon in her earlier years - and sure enough, that's who she played in Oliver Stone's "Nixon". Helen Hunt portrays Kathleen Turner and Nicolas Cage's daughter - ironic, since she is older than Cage! It was one of her beginning roles as well.

Without a doubt, the scenes with Peggy Sue and her grandparents are the most touching in the whole film. Think about it - if you had the chance to see someone again who had died long before, what would you say to them? What would you do? This wonderful film gives us the chance to find out.

Will "Peggy Sue Got Married" ever be available on videocassette for home purchase again? I hate to have to rent it each time I want to see it!

I recently read an interview with Nic Cage where he was asked about Charlie and the voice he used for him in this movie. I thought perhaps that was my imagination or he had a cold or something. I ABSOLUTELY hated how nasally Charlie was. Apparently, Cage was the only one who liked that voice, it drove Kathleen Turner crazy when acting with him; she hated it too.

This is a cute, nostalgic film....except for Cage. He truly does nearly ruin this film for me. I'd rate it an 8 or 9, except for him.

There is NO WAY any female would hear that character speak in that manner and think "I gotta have me some of that."

Kathleen Turner has never been better than she was in those 1986 film. A much more touching time travel film than Back to the Future -- Turner's character (an unhappy middle-aged woman) has the chance to re-live her high school days and do things differently only to end up making the same mistakes she made before. Turner is a gifted comedienne who has the ability to convey the pathos underneath the comedic layer.

Nicholas Cage is grating at first but the character grows on you after awhile. A then unknown Jim Carrey has a small role as does Joan Allen.

Francis Coppola may have just been a director-for-hire on this film but he is never an uninteresting director. Look closely he adds many small touches to the film. I especially liked a scene where Barbara Harris (as Peggy Sue's mother) is having her jewelry appraised when Peggy Sue walks into the house. Mom lies to Peggy Sue and tells her the man is taking an election poll then tells Peggy Sue she will vote Democratic in 1960. The scene is never explained any further but it is interesting to note that 1960 was the very beginning of the women's movement. Perhaps Mrs. Kelcher is beginning to see that there is a life outside of being a housewife and mother. She wants to but is afraid to assert her independence. Hence the jewelry appraiser. Since Mrs. Kelcher has no skills outside of the house it is comforting for her to know that should it come to it she would be able to support herself temporarily by selling her jewelry. Her nest egg so to speak should she decide to leave the nest.

This movie has a lot going for it. First, there's a superb acting by both Turner and Cage. Both embody the 60s. The cars, settings and attitudes are fully representative of the era and bring back memories of a seemingly simpler time. But, in this movie, things are complicated by the culture of a later period. I found this movie enjoyable and thought-provoking. It is fun, also, to see Jim Carrey in what must have been his first (or nearly so) role. The mannerisms and cartoonish characteristics that would make him a super-star are evident. In this movie there is character, with one theme about how people treat others, especially thoise of us with personality or other challenges. Good stuff.

This movie is definitely on my Top 20 list of all time favorite movies. Whenever I come across it while channel surfing, I end up watching it again-and I hate watching movies that are edited for TV!

As others have pointed out, it showcases so many talented actors. Joan Allen is great here, as is Catherine Hicks. And the amazing Barbara Harris, whom I adore for her work on the stage, is excellent and dead-on as Peggy's mother. Jim Carrey is here as well and surprise, he's overacting in most of his scenes! While I've never completely figured out why Nicholas Cage was encouraged to employ the weird-ass voice that he did, his performance winds up being very likeable. Barry Miller is also great as Richard.

The premise is cool. Who among us wouldn't want to have such and opportunity (OK, maybe not the passing out in public part)? As a person that grew up in the 60s, I'd love to return and see some of the sights and sounds that filled my innocent, pre-Internet world. And the scene when Peggy hears her Grandmother's voice on the phone makes me cry every time.

I likey!