| 100 |
Christian Science Monitor
Cary Elwes is marvelously funny as the hero. [25 Sept 1987]
|
| 100 |
Wall Street Journal
The movie has its own genuine charm and one hilarious high: Billy Crystal & Carol Kane are simply wonderful. [24 Sept 1987, p.24(E)]
|
| 100 |
Time
As you watch this enchanting fantasy, feel free to be thrilled or to giggle, as you wish. This time, Happily Ever After lasts 98 minutes. [21 Sept 1987]
|
| 90 |
Film Threat
An effective comedy, an interesting bedtime tale, and one of the greatest date rentals of all time.
|
| 90 |
Washington Post
As a good fairy tale should, The Princess Bride teaches but never preaches. It's a lively, fun-loving, but nevertheless epic look at the nature of true love.
|
| 90 |
New Times (L.A.)
Though not as visually impressive as comparable Terry Gilliam fare such as Jabberwocky, the verbal wit is fast and abundant (abetted with cameos by Billy Crystal, Peter Cook and Mel Smith), and you'd better believe the midnight movie crowd will remember almost all of it.
|
| 90 |
Los Angeles Times
Michael Wilmington
It's Patinkin who scores a special triumph. In his role there's a poignant strain of weariness beneath the leaping bravado, a pain under the braggadocio. [25 Sept 1987]
|
| 88 |
Chicago Sun-Times
It is filled with good-hearted fun, with performances by actors who seem to be smacking their lips and by a certain true innocence that survives all of Reiner's satire.
|
| 80 |
TV Guide
Staff (Not Credited)
A hilarious mixture of Errol Flynn swashbuckler and Monty Python send-up...When it comes to pleasing both kids and adults, you can't do much better.
|
| 80 |
The New York Times
Mr. Reiner seems to understand exactly what Mr. Goldman loves about stories of this kind, and he conveys it with clarity and affection. [25 Sept 1987, p.C10]
|
| 80 |
Washington Post
A percolating comedy. The laughs may not tear your belly up, but they're constant and they dovetail with the story.
|
| 80 |
Chicago Reader
Not even the crude ethnic humor--Billy Crystal's Mel Brooks-ish Miracle Max--pricks the dream bubble, and the spirited cast has a field day.
|
| 75 |
USA Today
Crystal is such a panic - and normally uptight Patinkin is so attractively relaxed as a Spanish swordsman - that Bride's charms just can't be ignored. [25 Sept 1987]
|
| 75 |
Chicago Tribune
The Princess Bride wants to be sweet and warm, but it doesn't want to take the chance of seeming uncool -- and that is an attitude far, far removed from innocence. [9 Oct 1987]
|
| 75 |
Entertainment Weekly
Reiner's penchant for hip little riffs -- Billy Crystal as a yiddish wizard, etc. -- dilutes primal power in favor of genial fun.
|
| 67 |
Austin Chronicle
Reiner abandons his previous movie's sense of farce and satire for much broader and more innocuous comedy.
|
| 50 |
Variety
Staff (Not Credited)
It also doesn't help that Cary Elwes and Robin Wright as the loving couple are nearly comatose and inspire little passion from each other, or the audience.
|
| 50 |
San Francisco Chronicle
Kinda cute, occasionally amusing and very, very slow... I just wish [it] had more momentum, more oomph. [9 Oct 1987]
|
| 50 |
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Rob Reiner's not up to it: when the movie is meant to be romantic, the tone is frequently mushy and sexless, and when it's meant to be anachronistic and satiric, it's vaudeville-vulgar.
|
| 50 |
The New Yorker
The movie is ungainly – you can almost see the chalk marks it's not hitting. But it has a loose, likable shabbiness. [19 Oct 1987, p.110]
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