Peggy Sue is a smooth-flowing exploration of the early 60's from the perspective of the mid 80's combined with teenage experiences from the perspective of a middle-aged mother. This movie has alot of fine moments, as when Kathleen Turner talks to her grandmother on the phone who was deceased in the present time. I've never seen any other time travel movie that makes you gulp like that. Kathleen Turner is great, as are all the supporting actors. Nicholas Cage over-acts and doesn't seem plausible (in real life he wasn't actually born in 1960 and had no feelings for it and actually acted like it was more like 1957 with the hair style and antics), but I guess with his uncle directing it, all that acting was unavoidable. He couldn't ruin this movie but it would have been even better with a more plausible, subtle, even more "square" guy. I really liked the nerdy genius accomplice and the beatnik boyfriend, as these people are certifiably genuine early 1960's people. The Mom, the Dad, the sister, the girlfriends - who wasn't good?

This movie is a straight-down-the-middle time trip for baby-boomers and it takes you out of the park. It's filled with pleasing and facile scenes. It is very well-directed and effortless in capturing its goal.


Why this movie is great   April 30, 2004
 11 out of 11 found this review helpful

William Butler Yeats:

When You Are Old

When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;

How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim Soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;

And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

That comes from a scene where Peggy Sue (Kathleen Turner) is talking to a poet Michael Fitzsimmons (Kevin J. O'Connor) while she is visiting her high school years. The scene is one of my favorite movie scenes ever and I feel that the movie itself is a timeless piece of cinema. Look out for performances from Jim Carrey, Nicholas Cage, Hellen Hunt, and a young Sofia Copola (director of Lost in Translation, Virgin Suicides) as Peggy's bratty kid sister (is there another kind?) Great musical score. And this is the one flick guranteed to make me tear up everytime.


THE MIRROR HAS BROKEN   April 27, 2000
 10 out of 11 found this review helpful

I consider Francis Coppola as one of the five best directors of the last 30 years. Even in his less successful movies, there is still the sparkle of the genius. And ONE FROM THE HEART which was a huge flop, critical and popular, is, in my opinion, a masterpiece, along with APOCALYPSE NOW and THE GODFATHER, part I, II and III.

Now why would Francis Coppola be interested in the screenplay of PEGGY SUE GOT MARRIED, a light and nostalgic comedy about life and its disenchantments ? Perhaps the subject touched him because of the recent fall of Zoetrope Studios which, at this time, was falling apart with Coppola's dreams and money. In this perspective, PEGGY SUE GOT MARRIED is a formidable statement of a bleeding director : " If I could live again now, knowing what I know, I won't change a thing ! ".

Speaking of perspective, let's observe that there aren't any mirrors in the real world of Peggy Sue, Coppola choosing to shoot the back of another actress when Kathleen Turner faces her mirror. This creates an uneasiness in the audience because we have the impression that Peggy Sue will jump out of the mirror. Great idea of an always innovative director.

You will have understood that PEGGY SUE GOT MARRIED is a movie you can watch several times and still discover another little pearl hidden in it. That's cinema. And I like it this way.

A DVD for your library.


PLEASE GIVE KATHLEEN TURNER A GOOD ROLE AGAIN...   September 28, 1999
 10 out of 11 found this review helpful

This movie does have some flaws but due to Kathleen Turner's performance it merits 4 stars. This role was originally supposed to go to that other great actress, who deserves better, Debra Winger. But Turner is brilliant. She actually becomes a teen again but in the same body and that is a real challenge that she was up to. Watch for early roles of Helen Hunt, Joan Allen and Jim Carrey. Turner was very deserving of a Best Actress Nomination (one she should have got for Romancing the Stone AND Serial Mom). I pray that great actresses like Turner and Winger get great roles NOW and not in crap like they have been offered in the past few years. Anyway the DVD of Peggy Sue is totally worthy of purchasing.


Different Kind of Master Piece   May 6, 2001
 9 out of 10 found this review helpful

This an excellent film to watch primarily bacause all the cast members, including Coppola's daughter who plays Sue's sister in the movie, did a super job of acting their parts. I understand that Miss Kathleen Turner did not want Mr. Cage to be her co-star; however, Coppola wisely insisted that his nephew play the roll Some reviews are critical of Mr. Cage's performance; on the contrary, he does capture the part of that type of kid. I knew several fellas like him when I went to high school in the 40's. With the exception of one scene in which Miss Turner sexually get's involved with the student poet, the entire family can watch the film without being embarrassed. I feel Peggy Sue Got Married will be appreciated in the future like many of us now appreciate "It Happened One Night" with Cable and Colbert. "It Happened One Night," with Cable and Colbert.