Pssst, want to check out Peggy Sue Got Married in our new look?
Information
- Year
- 1986
- Runtime
- 103 min.
- Director
- Francis Ford Coppola
- Genres
- Drama, Romance, Comedy, Fantasy
- Rating *
- 6.4
- Votes *
- 25,898
- Checks
- 2,744
- Favs
- 107
- Dislikes
- 33
- Favs/checks
- 3.9% (1:26)
- Favs/dislikes
- 3:1
Top comments
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Siskoid
Peggy Sue Got Married, on the surface the female version of Back to the Future out the same year, is a strange Kathleen Turner vehicle by director Francis Ford Coppola, who has never met a digression he didn't like. Perhaps that's why the film gets so wonky towards the end (the Lodge stuff), or why young Nicolas Cage is allowed to give one of "those" performances (if you know what I mean), but while Back to the Future is a fun genre comedy, Peggy Sue feels more meaningful. It's got it comic moments, but the music keeps pushing drama, for one thing. And though it's a time travel story, there's really no definite explanation as to the means used by Peggy to Quantum Leap back to 1960 (I say genetic ability shared with her grandmother, but someone could make a case for it being all hallucinations). It doesn't matter anyway, because it has psychological truth. It starts out as a story of midlife crisis, of wanting to go back to one's youth and not make the same mistakes, and then turns into a feminist coming of age in which our protagonist refuses to let her life be defined by the man she's with. The title is crucial as 1986 condemns 50s and 60s values (which survive to this day in many couples), while yes, having us visit a bygone age's fashions, cars and music. Also: Young Jim Carrey alert! 8 years 10 months ago -
kottonen
Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) is a comedy drama directed by Francis Ford Coppola — last time I watched a film of his, it was Apocalypse Now (1979). The fact that both productions are praise-worthy while being vastly different in their conflict, scale, and degree of intimacy fills me with new-found appreciation for the director.
Peggy Sue Got Married is a lot of fun. It is also, in contrast to many romantic or family comedies, very tightly-written. There is never the impression that you are watching what is technically a B movie (most of the genre falls under that category). Because you are not.
This film is genuinely consistently interesting: from the opening scene with the camera zooming out of the TV image — of Nicolas Cage, no less — through a mirror, introducing Peggy Sue (Kathleen Turner) as she is getting ready for a pivotal moment (the stakes are raised at once). The dialogue is great and comedy occurs naturally, as a 40-year-old women is reliving her senior high school year, armed with the attitude and experience of an adult.
This is less Back to the Future (1985) and more Quantum Leap (1989-1993). There are no morals, other than the suggestion that we do not know everything about other people and the opinions formed early and forever are often wrong. And you probably won't have any use for those algebra classes, so yeah.
Nicolas Cage was a curious choice for the love interest. He is not at all out of place in this film, although appears type-cast rather than chosen for his acting abilities. You can also practically see the plot of Vampire's Kiss (1989) writing itself, as Cage crouches while climbing over rooftops. 6 years 3 months ago -