Peggy Sue Got Married

PEGGY SUE GOT MARRIED (PG)
D: Francis Ford Coppola
Tristar/Rastar (Paul R. Gurian)
US 1986
104 mins

Comedy/Fantasy

W: Jerry Leichtling & Arlene Sarnee
DP: Jordan Cronenweth
Ed: Barry Malkin
Mus: John Barry
PD: Dean Tavoularis
Cos: Theodora Van Runkle 

Kathleen Turner (Peggy Sue Bodell), Nicolas Cage (Charlie Bodell), Barry Miller (Richard Norvik), Catherine Hicks (Carol Heath), Joan Allen (Maddy Nagle), Kevin J. O'Connor (Michael Fitzsimmons), Jim Carrey (Walter Getz)

Back To The Future's more serious cousin, released a year after the blockbuster hit, plays out like an extended episode of The Twilight Zone.

Peggy Sue (Kathleen Turner) attends her 25th high school reunion and finds herself whisked back to the early 1960's, where she relives her school days.

The film is a strange choice for director Francis Ford Coppola, whose studio was still reeling from a string of box office bombs, but the director has a good eye for nostalgia, helped by production design, costumes and photography which perfectly capture the period.

The time travel element of this fantasy will suffer if compared to the previous year's hugely successful Back To The Future (qv), it's a completely different spin on a similar story. 

Kathleen Turner is just perfect as the lead character, revisiting her past life and reunited with her family and old friends. The only duff performance is from Nicolas Cage, who bizarrely delivers all his lines with a ridiculously squeaky voice.

6/10

Kathleen Turner in Peggy Sue Got Married
Kathleen Turner in Peggy Sue Got Married