A high school reunion can either be a joyful night or one of the most terrifying experiences of your life, depending on how you’ve aged and how wide you’ve gotten. But Peggy Sue, despite a recent separation from her husband/high school sweetheart, Charlie, has maintained her looks and wit, and decides to go with her daughter (Helen Hunt) as her date. She loves seeing her old friends and, in the middle of the night, is named Prom Queen.
On stage, Peggy Sue (Kathleen Turner, who was nominated for the Best Actress Oscar; she lost to Marlee Matlin for CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD) faints, only to wake up 25 years earlier in 1960. Entirely aware that her 40+-year-old self is now in her 18-year-old body, Peggy Sue experiences something of a shock—her mother (Barbara Harris) has no wrinkles, her sister (Sofia Coppola, who would later direct Turner in her debut, THE VIRGIN SUICIDES) looks up to her and Dion and the Belmonts are on AMERICAN BANDSTAND. After breakfast, she’s picked up by Charlie (Nicolas Cage, sounding like Pee-Wee Herman with a head cold), who she sets out to break up with and fix her future. But if Peggy Sue is willing to admit she’s not the same girl she was her senior year, then can she see that there may be more to Charlie than his middle-age version suggests?
PEGGY SUE GOT MARRIED is written by Jerry Leichtling and Arlene Sarner, who would later pen 1994’s BLUE SKY. The script is a strong one with a lot of funny lines that let the actors get the most of the storyline. An example: “Peggy, did you and Charlie have a fight?” “Sort of.” “About what?” “House payments.” At the same time, it allows the viewer to flash back to certain points in their life and consider what could or should be different or forgotten. Another smart choice is outlining both the pros and cons of knowing the future. It would be nice to be able to know which inventions will make you a millionaire, but how would you react if you heard your dead grandmother’s voice for the first time in decades?
The movie is directed by Francis Ford Coppola, whose works in the 1970s—the first two GODFATHERs, THE CONVERSATION, APOCALYPSE NOW—solidified him as one of the great filmmakers of his generation. In the 1980s, Coppola spent his time aiding the decline of the New Hollywood (ONE FROM THE HEART), adapting S.E. Hinton books (THE OUTSIDERS, RUMBLE FISH) and collaborating with Michael Jackson (the Disney-exclusive short CAPTAIN EO). But PEGGY SUE GOT MARRIED, released in 1986, showed he had at least some gas left in the tank.
PEGGY SUE GOT MARRIED is a movie entirely uncharacteristic of the director. It is charming and sweet, nostalgic and sentimental. But it’s rarely tacky (save for maybe Cage’s performance) and it uses time travel conventions not to make fun of the past but as a frame for a stable story and dimensional characters.
Video: 1.85:1 in 1080p with MPEG-4 AVC codec. PEGGY SUE GOT MARRIED has been cleaned up nicely for its Blu-ray debut. Some images occasionally seem soft, but overall the look and color of the 1960s (courtesy of Oscar-nominated cinematography and costumes) pop in high-definition.
Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Subtitles in English. The dialogue is clean and the soundtrack brings out some solid ‘60s tracks.
This Blu-ray has no special features.
