Kathleen Turner is great in this movie, she more or less pulls off her task and is very believable as the teenager who gets to relive and, to some point, change and correct her past. Francis Ford Coppola knows exactly where to draw the fine line between heart warming and pathetic and does so with great artistic knowledge and taste. This movie is filled with memorable quotes, like "No more jello for me, mom!" and is altogether very funny. Great performances from a pile of familiar faces, Nicholas Cage is irritating at first, but is likeable at the end. A great score, a great and heart warming story, solid acting and nostalgia make this movie more than worth a second viewing. 8/10
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bsinc20 April 2003
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JamesHitchcock25 June 2021The title "Peggy Sue Got Married" is borrowed from the song by Buddy Holly which is played over the opening credits. The title character is Peggy Sue Bodell, a forty-something American housewife who is separated from her husband Charlie because of his infidelity. At a 25-year high school reunion, Peggy Sue faints while being crowned as "Reunion Queen". When she awakens, she discovers that it is now 1960 and she is once again Peggy Sue Kelcher, a teenager at high school.
The theme of the film is "what would you do if you could live your life over again?" Finding herself back in her schooldays, yet still retaining her memories of the period between 1960 and 1985, Peggy Sue determines to avoid the mistakes she made the first time round. This essentially means avoiding marriage to Charlie, her high-school sweetheart whom she had to marry after he got her pregnant. She considers two other possible boyfriends, the school's science geek Richard who in the world of 1985 is a wealthy inventor and industrialist, and Michael, a bookish intellectual. (Unlike most bookish intellectuals in American high school dramas, Michael is not a geek or a nerd but cool and good-looking). In the end, however, she decides that she still loves Charlie and ends up making the same choice again. After waking up in hospital back in 1985, she and a repentant Charlie reconcile.
After the first two instalments of the "Godfather" trilogy and "Apocalypse Now", Francis Ford Coppola was regarded as a virtual god of the cinema, but in the early eighties he had a fall from grace almost as great as that suffered by Michael Cimino at around the same time, the difference being that it only took one film, "Heaven's Gate", to destroy Cimino's reputation, whereas Coppola had several costly failures. ("One from the Heart", "Rumble Fish", "The Cotton Club"). He would not be the first director most people would associate with light-hearted fantasy comedy movies, and was only the third choice for "Peggy Sue Got Married", taking over after both Jonathan Demme and Penny Marshall had dropped out. The film, however, provided him with one of his few financial successes of the eighties. (He was to have two more flops in the latter part of the decade, "Gardens of Stone" and "Tucker: The Man and His Dream".
The film was also a critical success, but it has never been a favourite of mine, either when I saw it in the cinema in 1986 or when I watched it again recently. Kathleen Turner was nominated for an Academy Award for "Best Actress", the only such nomination of her career. (She lost to Marlee Matlin for "Children of a Lesser God"). I felt, however, that the film was handicapped by the decision to use the same actors to play the same characters in both their older and younger incarnations. In 1986 Turner was a beautiful young woman in her early thirties, and I did not find her particularly convincing either as a careworn forty-something housewife or as a teenage schoolgirl.
Mind you I could not accept Nicolas Cage as a teenage schoolboy either, and he would only have been 22 in 1986, just a few years older than the character he was playing. He was even less convincing as the older Charlie. Cage, born Nicolas Coppola, is of course the nephew of the director. According to him, his uncle begged him to take the role and he only accepted if he could play it in an "over the top" manner. There is certainly something cartoonish about his acting, which I found inappropriate. Peggy Sue, after all, is supposed to be a sympathetic character, so the man whom she loves, despite his faults, needs to be seen as a real person, not a caricature. Turner disagreed with Cage's interpretation, leading to friction between the two, and it shows. They never seem like a couple in love.
In the seventies and eighties Hollywood made a series of nostalgic films set in the late fifties and early sixties, possibly because following the twin traumas of Vietnam and Watergate this era was seen as the time of a kinder, gentler and more carefree America. Compared to the likes of "American Graffiti", "Grease" and "Diner", however, "Peggy Sue Got Married" has always struck me as one of the weaker entries in the series, with its time-travel theme adding little of interest. Perhaps it would have been more interesting if Peggy Sue had made a different choice- say, leaving Charlie for Michael- second time around. 5/10. -
victorianezine13 January 2008A woman (PEGGY SUE) whose husband just left her for some younger woman, goes to her high school reunion, faints, but ends up 25 years earlier in time with friend, family, and her philandering husband as high school boyfriend-in 1960 high school! Should she break up with her teen boyfriend-and change her future? Should she run off with the mysterious beatnik poet??? Or,
should she just stay in 1960 and discover the Beatles early, invent pantyhose, and make lots of money?
I LOVED watching this movie because I remember 1960 as a little kid. My BABYSITTERS (and their boyfriends)---some older cousins, some younger aunts/ uncles - talked and acted like these 1960 pre Beatles and early Rock & Roll teens in PEGGY SUE GOT MARRIED.
Who does Peggy Sue see in 1960???
The girls in ponytails, shirtwaist dresses, plaid "pedalpusher" shorts (not recommended for women with a larger "mom butt" but cute on teens), transistor radios, big plastic pointy cornered eyeglasses...the boys with ducktail haircuts, white sox and penny loafers - her own YOUNGER looking parents, her currently ESTRANGED husband as her teen adoring boyfriend...and...- the long dead but still loved - GRANDPARENTS whom Peggy Sue will go to for help in leaving 1960- so Peggy Sue can return to to her future, her kids and - her repentant HUSBAND.
************** Buddy Holly, an early Rock and Roll teen idol, wrote and performed the title song "Peggy Sue" back in 1960. A fun nostalgic film.
Turner's character has that bit of mature woman's lite cynicism which keeps this film from getting sentimental
EXCEPT where she is comforted by her grandparents. There she doesn't act as a teen, but is the middle aged woman asking her long dead (but still loved) grandparents for advice!
A kind of women's Back to the Future but with no DeLorean needed. -
BeafyBear18 September 2003This 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! -
vertigo_1410 March 2005Fans of the time traveler genre and the teen comedy might enjoy this Copola-directed comedy. Kathleen Turner plays a middle-aged newly divorced mother attending her high school Reunion. After an unexpected collapse, she wakes up in the 1960s and is teenage Peggy Sue all over again, except that she knows everything that she knew in the future. What at first seems like an incredibly awkward dream (especially if you have to repeat all of the silliness of your high school years), turns out to be much more. She solicits the help of high school brain, Richard (Barry Miller) to help find a way to get her back. In the meantime, her reunion with the past allows her to change her future. (Yeah, one of those...).
Though often a hilarious comedy, it may be one well suited for older audiences, since the tackiness of both the middle-age attendees of their 1980s high school reunion and their 1960s teenage counterparts may seem cheesy to your modern teenager (which will, probably, in turn seem cheesy to future generations). But, still, the movie offers good laughs mostly from Turner. Look for a very young Sophia Copola as Peggy Sue's younger sister, in addition to many familiar and some then-unfamiliar faces (Jim Carrey) in supporting roles. -
TheLittleSongbird9 January 2011First things first, I do not think it is Francis Ford-Coppola's best film, but it is not his worst either. Peggy Sue Got Married is a flawed but very likable film, that I feel doesn't deserve the back lash it gets. There may be some weak spots in the script, Coppola occasionally overdoes it with his direction and the pace sags in the middle. But what makes the film watchable is the lovely cinematography, memorable soundtrack, engaging story, a nice mix between the funny and sympathetic and the acting. I know that Nicolas Cage's performance has been slated here, but actually, I didn't think he was that bad. Irritating at first, but I think that is more the fault of his character, but he is quite likable at the end. Jim Carrey also appeals in an early role. But it is Kathaleen Turner's movie. Enigmatic, charming, beautiful and funny, she is wonderful in the lead. All in all, far from a masterpiece but it doesn't deserve burying. 7/10 Bethany Cox
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secondtake9 September 2010Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)
There is something fanciful and lighter than air about the intentions here, with a strain of something else very serious. And I respect a director (Francis Ford Coppola) trying to find a new airiness and unreality in this photographically real medium, especially with resorting to outward fancy. On the outside, this is a realistic film with acting meant to be at least as real as a good soap opera. And I mean that in a pertinent way...it is over the top interpersonal drama, and improbable.
So what goes wrong? I think that might be definable by some doctoral student, and it's some combination of editing, which is either awkward or merely functional, and the basic story itself, which is stretched thin over two hours. Other movies play with an existential trip while winking, but they keep the mind-bending part of the problem changing and moving, and that doesn't happen here.
The final nail in the coffin is the weak acting, even from Nicholas Cage (Coppola's nephew). At times it seems it's supposed to be farcical and comic booky, but it isn't quite plastic or silly or believable enough to work. The one exception is the very real and compelling lead, Peggy Sue, played by Kathleen Turner.
The biggest bummer is that it's such a sweet idea, such a wistful, wishful idea, and it just doesn't fly. -
sol-19 November 2005The basic concept behind the film is very familiar, and it has certainly been done better before, but despite the predictable and obvious nature of the material, the film surprisingly manages to be pleasant enough viewing. Francis Ford Coppola and his cameramen have selected a number of interesting angles from which to shoot the film, the music soundtrack is great, and there quite a few good performances delivered by the cast, with the best bits coming from Barry Miller and Kevin J. O'Connor. Still, Nicolas Cage is an odd pick for his part. Overall, the film is not nearly as deep or original as it could be, but yet it possesses some very amusing moments. For that, it is worth checking out, as long as one does not expect a film on the same level as Coppola's best 1970s work.
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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! -
bobhunnicutt12 May 2022And kind of sweet, but not in a syrupy way. It's about growing up. Maybe not making the perfect choice, but a good choice. It's a nice period piece for the 1960ish era.
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mercuryix-124 January 2008I wondered why I didn't like Peggy Sue Got Married more than I did, when it first came out in 1986, with all the hype. Somehow I found Nic Cage's character off-putting. Way off-putting. Then the plot didn't seem to make sense. Then by the end of the credits, the question came to mind: What point was this movie making? What was it saying? The answer, unfortunately, was not much, if anything. I really don't think this movie aimed at making a statement; unless it was "your life is your life, you're gonna make the same mistakes no matter what, so keep your eye upon the doughnut, and not the hole". Not a very profound statement, and I'm sorry, not profoundly made in this movie. The writing simply isn't that good. The direction is uneven, and is strangely overblown at times. Kathleen Turner was the best, and in my opinion, only worthwhile thing in this movie, and performed something of a miracle creating a whole character despite bizarre, unexplained circumstances, with a script that had no apparent statement to make.
She also finally cleared up the mystery for me of the main reason I didn't enjoy this movie more. She states in her autobiography that Cage made a point of fighting his uncle Coppola's direction every step of the way, doing it "his own way" (not a good idea for a new actor), and putting on a goofy voice she called "stupid". His voice was annoying, abrasive and unnatural, and his character was obnoxious and overbearing as a young guy. I understand what he was attempting to do: play a young-guy "hot shot" who is not as hot as he thinks he is, setting up his own karma for future failure. But he goes overboard, the way he does it is abrasive, not effective, and if he had listened to his uncle instead of "fighting the Man", we would have had a more enjoyable film. Cage slips a little with his obnoxious voice stylings in the movie and occasionally sounds like a real person, and those scenes are more watchable than others. But if I had to watch the movie through in its entirety, I would find myself wanting to pay someone in L.A. to pour a bucket of water over his head during some of his more affected (put-on) scenes.
The movie doesn't aim for a statement, doesn't make a point, is great to look at except when Cage is doing a demented Elvis impression (but without the voice), and is, ultimately, confusing and a waste of time. Given all this, Kathleen Turner surely deserved an Oscar in this flailing mess of a movie. I can't recommend anyone spending two hours watching this, unless you like Turner and have a remote to pick out all her scenes. Believe me, you will miss nothing plotwise by skipping the other scenes, and it will make just as much sense.
Kathleen Turner is getting a lot of flak from critics regarding her Cage comments, which proves that she's strong enough to be honest, and to hell with other people's comments. You go, Turner! I'm not particularly a fan of this actress any more than I am of any other first-rate actor or actress, but her candor is refreshing. Cage's acting can be good to annoying, and here it doesn't work. At least, in this film, now we know why. -
BumpyRide9 November 2004I'm surprised by the number of people on here who don't like this movie. Like a few of the positive reviewers I'd have to say this is one of my favorite, "contemporary classics." The story is exquisite, who wouldn't want to go back to a time when things were a bit simpler and someone was there to take care of you and make you feel safe? Whenever I stumble upon it, I end up watching it. Too many scenes start the old water works for me.
Peggy seeing her little sister for the first time, going into her old bedroom, and hearing her grandmother's voice on the phone are all quite touching.
Call me crazy but I just love the moment where Charlie takes Peggy down into the basement and confronts her about what is going on. When he leaves, Peggy opens a music box, pulls out a cigarette and lights it.
Another special moment happens when Peggy smokes a joint and talks about what she'd like to be when she grows up, as she turns around and around under a starry sky.
This is quite a good movie, filled with many special performances and scenes along the way. -
mjneu5926 December 2010At her 25th High School reunion, former Prom Queen Kathleen Turner ponders the same question we all ask at a certain age: if I knew then what I know now, what would I do different? But unlike the rest of us she gets the chance to change her destiny when a fainting spell sends her back to the year 1960, where she is reunited with the past while retaining a full memory of her future, which will include a failed marriage to her High School sweetheart. It might draw unfair comparisons to 'Back to the Future', but this is no dumb farce; it's a sentimental and sometimes touching comic drama about the powerful attraction of nostalgia. The script includes the usual comic anachronisms of all time-travel plots, and ignores the familiar paradoxes (why doesn't Peggy Sue remember as an adult at the beginning of the film the second adolescence she is soon to experience?). A confusing climax further stretches credibility way beyond the breaking point, but even with these few, nagging drawbacks and dubious central casting (Kathleen Turner looks too old for a teenager; husband Nicholas Cage is too young to be convincingly middle-aged) the film still marked a welcome return to Earth for director Francis Ford Coppola.
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Francis Coppola's strangely unaffecting, unrewarding comedy-drama with nostalgic leanings, all about a depressed wife and mother (Kathleen Turner) who suffers a breakdown at her high school reunion. She takes a trip back in time to her bobby sox days, when her father drove an Edsel and her future ill-suited husband was a crooner in a doo-wop group. Despite her obvious age, Turner is well-cast in this sentimental scrapbook, and she does very well with the transformation. Not so Nicolas Cage playing her spouse; apparently trying to come up with something eccentric in this by-the-numbers cad of a husband, Cage turns the guy into a off-putting geek (with the voice of a twelve-year old). Disastrous as he is, Cage isn't the weakest link of the picture--that would be the screenplay. Promising much more depth than it can deliver, the script takes Peggy Sue around in a circle, and the journey isn't an amusing, appealing or memorable one. ** from ****
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TxMike3 August 2001In the 1986 film, "Peggy Sue Got Married", a question is asked during the 25-year class reunion, and Peggy Sue answers, "If I knew what I know now, I'd do it a lot differently." So, she faints, her heart stops, and she wakes up in 1960, with a chance to do it all over again. Would she still get pregnant at 18 and marry Charlie, who grows up to be a cheating husband, bringing her much misery?
She seems to try hard to do it differently. She spends lots of time with Richard, the high school geek, helping him understand the types of things that will come - man on the moon by 1969, pantyhose, small computers, large radios! She asks, "Is time travel possible?" He says, "Time is like a burrito, folds over on itself." She laughs when her father brings home a new Edsel. Richard says, "Change your destiny, marry me." "No", she says, "Peggy Sue got married, and that's it." (Thus the title of the film.)
Later, when Peggy Sue wakes up in 1985 again, in the hospital, we must ask ourselves, was this just a dream? No, it wasn't, because Charlie shows her a book classmate Michael had given her, a book he wrote, that he dedicated to her, based on a one magical night they had together, which had not happened the first time through. During the "dream", she had suggested he write a book based on that night.
Thus, the movie answers, at least for Peggy Sue, the question of doing it all over again. In the end, she still did the same thing, but the future somehow looked brighter for her and Charlie. The right conclusion, I think, because it has become well-established that "nature" is more important than "nurture" in forming our adult tendencies.
It was fun seeing all the fine actors, most before their prime. Of course Kathleen Turner (Peggy Sue) was already established at age 32, with hits like Body Heat (81), Romancing The Stone (84), and Prizzi's Honor (85) on her resume'. Nick Cage (real name Nick Coppola), who plays Charlie, was 22 and in his 9th film, but the first with a featured role. Jim Carrey was only 24, still 8 years before he was noticed with Ace Ventura, Mask, and Dumb/Dumber films, all in 1994.
Joan Allen was an old 30, playing a high schooler, in her first theatrical film, and 9 years before her defining role in Nixon as Pat. Helen Hunt, Peggy Sue's daughter, was 23 and already in her 28th film, 3 years after Quarterback Princess, but 6 years before the hit TV series, Mad About You. And then there was Sofia Coppola, 15, who played Peggy Sue's little sister, in her 7th film. Had she either been attractive, or a good actress, she might not have become a director (Virgin Suicides, Lost In Translation).
I was a teenager in the 60s, and this film for me is nostalgic, especially hearing all the original songs from that time. My only complaint about the movie is Nick Cage's voice. Something about it at age 22 made it very irritating to listen to. Now that he has grown up, I find his voice much more pleasant. Had he not been the director's nephew, I doubt that he would have gotten the role of Charlie. Overall I rate this one "8" of 10. I like it a lot.
FEB 2021 update: I just watched it again, after almost 20 years, much of it was fresh, I still hold it in high regard. -
HenryHextonEsq11 December 2002I rather took to this film, in a way. Particularly in the early sections where Turner has just been transported back. Back indeed to that staple era of American idealistic nostalgia; the 1950s... or more accurately, 1960, still effectively the 1950s in terms of culture and music, for example, but with Kennedy on the horizon.
We are presented by Coppola (big time player in U.S. film, turned oddly to smaller fry since 1979...) with a view of the picket fence securities of this America nearly as tempered by nostalgia as so many other films depicting this era. A shame we don't perhaps get more of the music... doo-wop and the likes of Dion, as that stuff is sublime.
Certain elements are glossed over and presented a little too easily and predictably; the 'beatnik' figure, Michael Fitzsimmons, played by Kevin J. O'Connor, is involved in some fair but overdone scenes with Turner; trying to convey the subculture with an archetype. It is almost played as comedy, which is a little smug with its 1980s hindsight (who wants that?).
The acting is fairly competent overall; the problem of having the same performers playing both ages younger and older does arise. Principally with Ms. Turner's problematic central role of "Peggy Sue". She does not really look 18 or 43, but in both parts pretty much the thirty she was when the film was made. There is little effort made with make-up to convey this; and there is thus a credibility problem with this rather mature 'teen' going around uncommented upon in the 1960 sequences. It may be a niggle, but it is a tangible one I feel. Kathleen Turner is very good however in portraying this difficult part; in conveying the emotions and mind set of such a person, thrust into a real _Twilight Zone_ situation. It's perhaps a shame there's not more depth given to the present-day part of the film, in able for one to get to know Peggy better. I've not seen many of Turner's films, but I gather she is one of the most impressive of 1980s leading ladies; there's certainly scope here to applaud her performance in a role that could have gone badly wrong. That brings me very nicely onto Nicolas Cage and his "Charlie Boy" character. Put simply; a misfiring piece of acting and conception. The part is farcically cliched; the wide-eyed, joking, common guy turned 'heart-throb' of small American towns in the mythologised, eulogized 1950s era. An air of total absurdity is added by Cage's adopting a grating, ludicrous voice; that itself should render the character a laughing stock. Turner is well and truly 'too good' for this buffoon; a teenager who is meant to be charming, folksy and endearing, yet who just plain annoys.
Oh, and I didn't notice Jim Carrey at all; only found out he was in it through this site. _Peggy Sue Got Married_ is a very pleasant little film, but it is too little, one can't but help feel. The potential was there with this scenario to make a magnificent film, yet the 'fairly good' quality is settled for. Tricks are missed, gags are passed up... too much time focusing on that bloody Charlie character. Something more radical, with Turner really deciding to change her destiny would have interested me more. One hell of a dark film could have been made with the implications of this plot - time travel is so ill-served by films, generally. It's a shame Turner is never really tested and prone to major dramatic or comic conflict in the film. There are moments and scenes that are well thought of in this way - some of the stuff with the 'lovable nerd' type played by Barry Miller, the odd bit of Turner cheating with her foreknowledge of events - but really not enough stuff central to the film. Having the farcical (but not entirely played as such) scenes of the time travel 'lodge' end up in absurd failure and then black comedy, as Turner realises she is stuck in the time, to live out her life again, would have been *far better*.
As I say, this film missed numerous tricks. But indeed as failures go, it is a very passable viewing experience, besides the cringeworthy nature of Cage. It is good to watch a mainstream film that has a non-usual plot (well, post-_Back to the Future_) and genre. Yet, the genre is too subordinated to the earnestly romantic comedic (I use that word very loosely). This film could do with less of the traditional and more of the surprising. _Peggy Sue_ is enjoyable, if predictable viewing, that leaves one in mind of its missed chances and yet there one is given to a lingering favourable impression of the thing.
Rating:- *** 1/2/***** -
I saw this recently because I saw the review Siskel and Ebert gave of the film on youtube and since those guys were always pretty much on the spot I decide to watch it, and I was pleasantly surprised.
The movie revolves around Peggy Sue Bodell, a beautiful woman on the verge of divorcing from her high school sweetheart Charlie Bodell played wonderfully by Nicolas Cage, who after fainting at her high school reunion finds herself back in time to the year 1960 when she was still a senior in school.
The movie works so well because Kathleen Turner is such a fantastic actress and she really channels the character of Peggy Sue. This is unlike any character she'd played before. Not sultry or sexy, but bubbly and quite funny. But the real standout here is Nicolas Cage. His unusual voice is only one of the more brilliant things about his performance. Charlie has a whiny kinda high pitched voice which tells us a lot about his character even before we get to know him. But it's not just his voice, it's the heart he gives to his character that makes us see why the beautiful and popular Peggy Sue falls for him.
The film also features great performances by Catherine Hicks and Joan Allen who play Peggy's loyal friends, Carol and Maddy. And it also introduces us to newcomers like Helen Hunt and Jim Carey, who are now household names. Also outstanding performances by Barbara Harris and Don Murray as Peggy Sue's parents.
The rest of the cast is also great including Sofia Coppola as Peggy Sue's little sister Nancy, it's not much, but it's way better than her trainwreck performance in the Godfather III.
Great direction by Francis Ford Coppola, who usually directs more serious stuff, but still makes an enjoyable comedy. If the film has any flaws it's perhaps in the script. Though there's great dialogue some of the stuff felt forced like when Peggy Sue visits her grandparents, and her relationship with Kevin J. O'Connor's character. It sometimes felt like they were trying to cram too many things together and the end felt a bit rushed and disjointed, but apart from that it's still a very good film and a very funny and effective comedy. It's definitely worth a watch. -
lastliberal7 April 2007There are more obvious choices for viewing Francis Ford Coppola as a director, but this little gem is worth viewing a Kathleen Turner's best movie, in my humble opinion.
For me, it is probably the ultimate fantasy (except for being the one who makes Halle Berry a happy woman). Peggy Sue (Turner) is living a crappy life and facing divorce from Charlie (Nicolas Cage), who was her high school sweetheart. She gets to travel back to her high school days with a present awareness. Seeing Charlie deal with the "adult" Peggy Sue is a riot. As this would be my era, I thoroughly enjoyed the trip. Can she change the future as she tries to get back? You'll have to get this yourself to find out.
Jim Carrey fans will enjoy his performance in one of his early films.
Coppola does a fantastic job of directing and shows why he is one of the very best. -
kenjha26 December 2012At a high school reunion, a woman gets an opportunity to travel back to her school days. The theme of time travel was tackled with far more success a couple of years earlier in "Back to the Future," a film that is not great but is fun. This one is not fun. With its uninspired story and clichéd characters, it quickly runs out of steam and drags on far too long. Turner, in the midst of a fabulous first decade to start her career, is terrific, but the acting is otherwise uneven. Cage is the worst offender. He not only looks and acts goofy, but sports an annoying voice that sounds like a cartoon character. The familiar cast includes veterans O'Sullivan and Ames (his last film) as Turner's grandparents.
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In the reunion of the twentieth-fifth anniversary of high school, the former popular student Peggy Sue, who is facing a divorce of her husband Charlie Bodell (Nicolas Cage), faints and wakes up in 1960. The experienced Peggy Sue decides to change and improve her life in this new opportunity.
"Peggy Sue Got Married" is a delightful and charming fantasy about reevaluation and a second chance in life. The story is very beautiful, the production is very careful and I am really surprised how underrated this movie is in IMDb. I do not get tired of this film, and it is among my favorite romances. Kathleen Turner is extremely beautiful in the lead role, and watching this movie in 2005, it is a great chance to see names like Jim Carrey, Joan Allen and Sofia Coppola twenty years ago in the beginning of their careers. In Brazil, unfortunately this movie has not been released on DVD. My vote is nine.
Title (Brazil): "Peggy Sue - Seu Passado a Espera" ("Peggy Sue - Your Past Waits For You') -
Steffi_P28 March 2011Every blockbuster has its inferior clones. Peggy Sue Got Married follows the line of 1985's massively successful Back to the Future, with its protagonist travelling back in time a few decades to a world of rock 'n' rollers and high school dances. The similarities end here though, as Peggy Sue swaps Back to the Future's action comedy basis for a sweet romantic fairytale.
Kathleen Turner stars as the titular heroine reliving her own youth. She gives a strong dramatic performance, never faltering in her conviction. She emphasises overwhelming emotion of seeing her past brought to life over a sense of surprise, and the character is all the stronger for it. The only trouble is, being in her early thirties she no longer had the appearance of a teenager, but then nor does she quite come across as the knowledgeable older woman. Nicholas Cage by contrast chooses to ham it up with a silly cartoon voice, although funnily enough he does capture the essence of a dopey teenager, albeit in a daft caricature. He's also quite convincing when aged up for the 1980s scenes. Towards the end there are some lovely cameos by veteran performers Leon Ames, Margaret Sullivan and John Carradine. Ames and Sullivan are just wonderfully steady and relaxed, with Ames managing to give eye-catching presence without actually doing much. Carradine is on screen for just a few seconds but he is really memorable with that old familiar voice of his.
The director is Francis Ford Coppola. Although his post-70s projects have tended to be disappointing he still has talent as a moviemaker, with the elaborate yet subtle visual compositions that are his forte. The early scenes at the school reunion look fairly random, but notice how Coppola is carefully drawing our attention to various figures who will reappear in 1960, even relatively minor ones like the one played (then-unknown) Jim Carrey. A good example of Coppola's cunning arrangements comes after Nicholas Cage comes off stage after his performance at the party. The camera is behind Kathleen Turner's back, and we back away with her as Cage advances, moving their half of the screen round beside a pillar. The shot looks very natural and unforced, but it's subtly manipulating us and making us share in Turner's slight sense of revulsion.
The problem with Peggy Sue Got Married, as with most of Coppola's 1980s output, does not lie in his direction or the efforts of his cast, but in a substandard screenplay. A major fault is that no explanation is given for Turner's time travel jump. Granted, a story like this doesn't need a science answer like in Back to the Future, but even something as light-hearted as a fairy godmother would have sufficed to give things a bit of sense, and would have been a whole lot better than that corny speech about time being a burrito that you fill with memories. The basic idea of the movie is a cute one, and it's not without its emotional tugs (greatly enhanced by a tender musical score), but the story lacks the cohesion and the characters lack the depth to make it a real tearjerker. Peggy Sue Got Married may be only an indirect reworking of Back to the Future, and yet it is as mediocre and dissatisfying as any cheap rip-off. -
Recap: Its the 25 year reunion from high school. Peggy Sue is about to divorce her high school sweetheart Charlie Bodell. But at the reunion she faints and suddenly wakes up in high school, but with all the memories from her life. With this knowledge, she is given a second chance to guide her life in another direction.
Comments: Now, twenty years after its release, its kind of like watching a reunion of sorts with stars like Kathleen Turner, Nicholas Cage, Jim Carrey, Joan Allen, Helen Hunt and Sofia Coppola in early roles. And although it is a fairly sweet and cute romantic comedy, it is this flashback that entertains me most. Cage and Carrey are barely more than kids, very different but also very much resembling themselves today. In fact, it is funny to see the reunion when all the young actors been dressed and wearing make-up to look old.
In itself, the movie is just average. Sweet and cute, sure, but nothing extraordinary. A few smiles is all it produces. Mostly it focuses on relationships and the choices Peggy Sue has to make, and it does not make good comedy. Romantic? Nah, not really either. In all it is pretty average, and so it gets an average rating from me.
5/10 -
oowawa30 August 2007Maybe I am a bit prejudiced about the greatness of this film; I grew up in Sonoma County, and the sight of Peggy Sue Kelcher standing on the senior steps at Santa Rosa High School (where I drop off my granddaughters every morning) gives me a great thrill. When I drop them off, I often say, "If you see Peggy Sue, tell her I said hello." And they respond--"We will, grandpa." (And they no doubt think: "What an old cornball.") What a beautiful school! And it still looks just the same as it did in the 80's (or the 60's, for that matter). The place seems to be in a time warp. In a certain sense, taking this movie to heart has mythologized my world. Francis Ford Coppola's talent for finding the perfect settings for his comic philosophic masterpiece is unerring throughout--even if he had to paint the streets in Petaluma purple just to get the exact effect that he wanted.
"Peggy Sue" would be very high on my all-time top 100 film list, if I had such a list. The film is not only funny and soulful, it also directly addresses what is perhaps life's central existential question: "If you had the opportunity to relive your life, making the same mistakes and suffering the same consequences, would you do it?" Remember, in making your decision, that your children's lives, and the loves and friendships you have experienced in your lifetime, are contingent upon your answer.
When you watch "Peggy Sue," notice how the film parallels "The Wizard of Oz." Like Dorothy, Peggy Sue goes 'over the rainbow' into a magical world. It is in fact the world of her own past, but everything has been enchanted and transformed by her adult point-of-view. The Wizard himself, who must contrive to return Peggy Sue back home, is Peggy Sue's kind old grandfather, with his wonderful bogus lodge magic. Her friends at the reunion have their counterparts in the "over the rainbow" world of the past, just as Dorothy's friends on the farm have their counterparts in Oz. When Peggy Sue awakens from her trip, her old stale world and her old disappointing husband appear in a new light. Like Dorothy, Peggy Sue awakens and learns that there is no place like home, and the time-worn cliché is suddenly vital and alive. Like Dorothy, she is once again back in "Kansas," but it is a Kansas in which the characters, and she herself, have assumed new depths of meaning. She is now ready to step into her fate--her new enriched life (and there are also nuances of "It's a Wonderful Life" in the film).
One last comment: nowadays, I cannot watch this "comedy" without tears in my eyes through pretty much the whole movie, and much of this effect is due to the masterful performance of Kathleen Turner as Peggy Sue. Turner is usually on the hysterical edge of breaking down, and her proximity to the precipice is a knot in my gut through the whole movie. It is a shame that she did not win the Best Actress award for this performance. -
The strongest point of this film is undeniably its beautiful haunting theme tune which I went out and bought on cd the moment I heard it. I remember seeing this film in 1986, in Versailles and the outside temperature was -18°C. For this reason, this film is forever associated with cold. I was expecting a far better story and remain smitten with emotion when 1) Peggy Sue hears her grandma's voice on the telephone and almost faints and 2) when she actually travels to see her grandparents, towards the end of the film. These emotional moments apart, and apart from the general idea of travelling back in time which has always excited me, I found the film to be a bit of a disappointment. True, the 1960's dresses and automobiles are fun to watch. But Nicolas Cage's character is absolutely pathetic and annoyed me withing the first fifteen minutes. I don't like the actor at the best of times but in this film it was a nightmare every time I saw him appear. Unfortunate, really, as he is one of the main characters in the film. I also had a slight, though perceivable prejudice against Kathleen Turner as I always remember her as the bitter, evil-faced wife in War of the Roses. So basically none of the 2 main protagonists are my favourites and apart from that there are passages in the film which are frankly chatty and boring. I did enjoy Peggy Sue's short scenes with the scientist when she was speaking of the future but there again I got annoyed when she spent time with some freaked-out left-wing hippy who was even worse to listen to than Nicolas Cage. Only the scenes with her mum and dad provided some relief but they were rather flat, dialogue-wise, and Cage inevitably turns up to spoil things. I thought with such a brilliant idea and brilliant music, what a waste of a film. Also I cannot fathom how Peggy Sue was perceived by her family - was she seen by them as a 20 year old or a 45 year old. And if she was seen as a 20 year old, there is duplication in the time frame which means for each day in the film she lived the same day twice ! It's totally illogical and frustrating for a time travel lover like me. I have watched the film several times since 1986 and do have it on DVD, hoping that each new viewing will make me like it more but alas I always end up liking the same parts plus the music but remaining frustrated with the general body of the film. The only way out of this frustration is to imagine the whole episode as a dream ( dreams don't have to be logical ) and to scrap the time-travel thing completely.
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gbill-748776 October 2020Going back in time to revisit moments from high school, armed with more knowledge and self-assurance, is a fantasy perhaps many imagine, and this is the strongest thing Peggy Sue Got Married has going for it. Unfortunately the story, acting, and directing are all weak, despite all of the big names who worked on it.
Nicolas Cage affects a ridiculous accent and is simply awful (awful!), particularly in his scenes with Kathleen Turner. Seriously, he is comically bad, though that did make imitating him while the film was playing kind of fun. Turner's acting is barely any better (an Oscar nomination for this?), and she looks noticeably too young to be Helen Hunt's mother in the present, and noticeably too old to be Barbara Harris's daughter in the past. The film is buoyed slightly by the rest of its cast, including brief appearances from Jim Carrey and Maureen O'Sullivan (wow!), and it's too bad there wasn't more of them, or something smarter to offer in her interactions with the nerdy kid (Barry Miller) she talks about time travel with.
As for the story, after mysteriously finding herself back in time, Turner's character doesn't show any alarm and has no concerns at all about altering the future, e.g. making her kids disappear in an existential poof if she doesn't marry Cage's character again. One of the few moments with spark is when she has a one night stand with an intellectual rebel interested in beat literature, but even then Francis Ford Coppola drowns it all in sappy dialogue and music, things which pervade the film. It's meant as light fantasy so quite a bit can be forgiven, but the lead performances can't be, Cage's especially.