The first time I saw Peggy Sue Got Married, I was swept away with the thought of being able to do exactly what Kathleen Turner (Peggy Sue Keltcher) did.
How would it be to go back in time....back almost 30 years. To relive what I had and what I did, and change what I could.
Let’s set the scene.
Peggy Sue, after years of marriage to Charlie (her High school sweetheart) is having second thoughts about how the events of her life progressed.
She and Charlie are separated to give her time to rethink everything, and set her priorities straight. She is going through a sort of mid-life crisis. ’’Did I take the right path, did I marry the right person, did I do the right things?’’ (All questions I’m sure we’ve all asked ourselves.)
Peggy Sue and her estranged husband Charlie (overacted by Nicholas Cage) attend their 25th High School reunion (separately).
Egged on by her daughter(underacted by Helen Hunt), Peggy Sue wears the same dress for the reunion that she wore 25 years earlier to the High School prom.(Right, like we can all fit into our prom dresses after 25 years and 2 children.)
At the prom Peggy Sue gets to see all her old High School friends and catch up on their lives and loves and reminisce.
As the reunion progresses they have the normal reunion contests, who came the farthest distance, who achieved what they said they would, who became the richest, etc. And finally, the King and Queen of the reunion are crowned. Lo and behold, Peggy Sue and Charlie get crowned. This all becomes too much for Peggy Sue to handle, and she faints up on the stage, while accepting the honor..........
Fade out...........fade in.........
Peggy Sue awakens 25 years into the past, to find herself 18 again. Back in school, dating Charlie(with his big blond hair and big teeth and all).
Her mom (played very well by Barbara Harris), her sister(played by Sofia Coppola..no nepotism here haha- The movie was directed by Fransis Ford Coppola )and her father are all here too. All younger, all back to 25 years in the past.
Peggy Sue begins to relive her 17th year. She tries to interact and change what she feels will be wrong, and she tries to advise on things she knows will become something.
For example, she sews a pair of stocking to a pair of panties (voila, pantihose before their time). She tries to tell the school geek about computers and the Beatles and the moon landing.
She even takes a shot at having a fling with the class beatnik, Michael Fitzsimmons, (played by Kevin O’Connor to a tee).
She tries to change the path that her boyfriend Charlie, the wannbe singer takes.(Actually, even he knows deep down, that he’ll be stuck in the family appliance business, even though he prays to Fabian, that he’ll succeed as a singer.
The mood changes though, just as Peggy Sue is about to turn 18. The phone rings, it’s her grandmother(long since deceased) and Peggy Sue becomes overwhelmed with emotion. She sets her mind on seeing grandma and grandpa, one last time. Peggy tries to talks to her grandparents about what is happening(That’s what grandparents are good for. They’ll listen to everything you say, no matter how ridiculous, and believe you!) Her grandfather decides it’s time to take Peggy Sue to his secret lodge meeting, where they’ve had luck before in transporting people back(or ahead) to the correct time in history.(?????)
~~~~~~~And now, back to the present. Peggy Sue has learned a good lesson. You can’t change history to suit your wishes, what will be will be. But you can make the best of what there is (it isn’t really bad is it?) Peggy also realizes that she does truly love Charlie and that they should try again to live happily ever after.
I know the premise of the movie sounds hokey, but it really makes you think. You can feel the emotions.(I found myself tearing up a couple of times and I actually started to feel myself in Peggy Sue’s place).
I liked it. It was a fun (and sad) movie.
The acting was good, except for a few scenes, (including Jim Carrey in what I believe was his 1st movie role, as Peggy’s friend Carol’s boyfriend).
A good movie overall. I would recommend seeing this one.