Peggy Sue Got Married, written by Arlene Sarner - 8.6 out of 10

Peggy Sue Got Married, written by Arlene Sarner

8.6 out of 10

You will be surprised, perhaps, to learn that Francis Ford Coppola directs this charming comedy.

It was released in 1986, a time when Nicolas Cage was still a pleasant, talented, fun to watch actor – in the meantime, he has even filmed, a few times, in our land and we hear he is really obnoxious and arrogant.

Kathleen Turner is the exceptional actress that plays Peggy Sue, a splendid performance for which she was nominated for an Academy Award, Golden Globe and other trophies for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

When a high school reunion takes place, the protagonist loses conscious, only to find that she has travelled back in time.

This is not Back to the Future and it is far more serious, albeit an entertaining comedy, than 13 Going on 30 or other such features.

For the miraculous trip invites the heroine to meditate on her choices, think of alternatives, even contemplate a marriage to someone other than Charlie Bodell aka Nicolas Cage, for she has a mature thinking, benefiting from the body of a teenager, the enthusiasm, energy of that age.

Peggy Sue is very interested in talking with Richard Norvik, now that she is Emotionally intelligent and knows that studying is not something to despise, for when she was so young, she had joined the other girls in rejecting this student that was dismissed as a nerd, spending too much time reading.

On the other hand, there are some hilarious scenes in which she faces Charlie, who is flabbergasted by the ‘new’ girlfriend, who wants no less than to have sex, perhaps even in the car.

Peggy even mentions the secret names for the penis and the young man is appalled by this turn of events, tries to cool her down, and would reproach on the following morning this incident.

For a few days back, the girl had said “if you love me, you will not ask me to have sex with you”, only to have this replaced – by the adult, middle aged Peggy sue, but unbeknownst to Charlie- with:

‘If you love me, you will have sex with me’.

Furthermore, the boyfriend is infuriated by the closeness between his girl and Richard Norvik, although generally dismissed as no threat, given his unappealing manner and reclusiveness.

With Michael Fitzsimmons, it is a different issue, for this young man is attractive, handsome, although peculiar, outré, a studying teenager, with startling opinions on literature:

‘Ernest Hemingway is the most overrated writer…Jack Kerouac has had no need to kill a bull to have something to write about…he was a genius’…words to that effect.

One night, Peggy Sue talks to Michael in such a manner as to fascinate him, changing his opinion.

He had thought that she has little or no brains and all she is concerned with are superficial shallow things like fashion, gossip, but she proves to be so much more sophisticated- if we are mean, we would say she is middle aged after all…

The two spend a marvelous night under the stars; the heroine encourages the young man to write for he is talented and forget the rats that used to appear in his creations at the time.

She may even be successful, for, later on, he might write a book that is dedicated to her and a special starry night and on another occasion, when they meet again, and he even has major plans.

Michael talks about a woman he has met, who lives in Utah, where he wants to take Peggy and live on the farm, they would raise chicken and he would be the superior creator, although he does not specifically say that.

He thinks that since Utah accepts polygamy – it used to have many Mormon families with multiple wives to one husband, but this is of course illegal now – he could be married to both women.

In the age of MeToo, this makes him not just less of a positive character, but the exponent of backward, retrograde, chauvinist, sexist thinking.

With Richard Norvik, the woman who comes from the future talks about inventions, the high prize that sports shoes would fetch - $ 50 to $ 100, to the amazement of the incredulous man.

The super intelligent Richard suggests that Peggy Sue should marry him and this looks like a smart idea, if only she had not been infatuated, in love with the man who would upset her so much in the future.

They should have read the extraordinary The Seven Principles of Making Marriage Work, by the ultimate expert, John Gottman, a superman who has an accuracy rate of about 95% in predicting which couples would stay together and which would not, after just a few minutes of communication between them.