Peggy Sue Got Married

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to turn the clock back 25 years? Would you want to know everything you know now, carrying the battle scars from a lifetime of lessons learned? That’s exactly where Peggy Sue unexpectedly finds herself in this amusing little film from 1986.

It's 1985, and Peggy Sue Bodell (Kathleen Turner), is in the final stages of divorcing her high school sweetheart, Charlie 'The Appliance King' Bodell (Nicolas Cage). Her daughter, Beth (Helen Hunt), encourages Peggy Sue to attend her high school reunion, but without Charlie, the thought of answering all those questions "Why?" is almost too much. Finally coaxed into attending, Peggy Sue is having a great time catching up with her school friends when, sure enough, Charlie makes a typically grand entrance. Peggy Sue (the only one to dress '50s for the night) is crowned queen of the reunion, but the moment is overwhelming and she collapses. Waking up in hospital, surrounded by her friends, Peggy Sue inexplicably finds herself in 1960. Trouble is, Peggy Sue is still a woman, trapped in a young girl's space.

At first Peggy Sue delights in the good things such as seeing long since passed grandparents, and remembering friendships as they were before time and circumstance pulled them apart. She revels in the innocence of the time, and the chance to make a few changes and do things differently - and therein lies the dilemma. Peggy Sue has a chance to reassess her eventual marriage to Charlie, and maybe this time around, by not marrying him, she can save herself the heartache of the eventual divorce. Of course, everything else will change as well, including children, career, friends and her life path. But as the title of the film hints, Peggy Sue DID get married, and there was a lot of good that came from it too. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, the chance to actually go back and do things differently is a far scarier prospect.

"Peggy, do you know what a penis is? Stay away from them."

Peggy Sue Got Married is hardly the first (or the last) film to tackle the "I'm from your future" idea, but this one does it quite well, aided by terrific performances from Kathleen Turner and Nicolas Cage. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola (yes, the same one), this performance earned Kathleen Turner well-deserved Oscar and Golden Globe nominations, unfortunately winning neither. The storyline is relatively solid (as solid as any time travel themed film can be), the props and costumes look good, and the music is appropriately drawn from popular music of the time. The film addresses such issues as teenage rebellion, getting married young, children making adult decisions, regret, cause and effect, and that for every decision there is a consequence, even if we don't know it at the time.

No matter your age, Peggy Sue Got Married will have you questioning choices made, and opportunities missed. It's not a moralistic film, nor does it attempt to make you feel bad about what might have been. What it tries to do is make us appreciate every day, and accept that we can't change our past, but we can shape our future.

Lastly for the trivia buffs, Nicolas Cage is Francis Ford Coppola’s nephew, and Coppola’s first choice for Peggy Sue was Debra Winger. Bet you always wanted to know that, huh?

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and anamorphically enhanced, Peggy Sue Got Married is a mix of good and not so good. The good includes a very clean transfer with almost no film artefacts, which was a pleasant surprise. The image is occasionally a little soft, but colours are rich and bold, with no evidence of problems such as bleeding, cross colouration or chroma noise. The classic vehicles on show scrub up particularly well with deep colours contrasting beautifully with the chrome trim. They just don't make 'em like that any more (including the Edsel - and that's a good thing).

Black levels vary, but are generally good with no evidence of noise. Film grain is fairly evident throughout the film, but is not distracting. There is some infrequent aliasing, but this is easily ignored.

As a single layer disc, there is no layer change.

There may be five audio tracks to choose from, but all are Dolby Digital 2.0 mono - hooray (not!). Hence, there is no action from the subwoofer or surround speakers. Dialogue may be clear and well synchronised, but mono will never be the audio of choice. If you choose the Spanish track to listen to, be aware that it is a little louder and clearer than the rest. There is a swag of subtitles to choose from and even the United Nations would be hard pressed to complain.

The music in a film such as Peggy Sue Got Married is important in helping define the feel of the film. This soundtrack contains a good choice of numbers, and musical aspirations form a small sub-plot involving Charlie, but the mono sound does the film no favours.

Let's see, two Theatrical Trailers - wow! The trailers for Peggy Sue Got Married and It Could Happen To You are little more than advertisements. They serve their purpose and both come complete with subtitles (too much time on someone’s hands?), and It Could Happen To You is in Dolby Digital stereo. Fabulous!

OK, I admit it. I enjoyed Peggy Sue Got Married. It may be more of a 'chick flick' than anything else but there are some genuinely funny moments and great performances (except Jim Carrey, who proves again that he can only play one role - that of village idiot). If you've ever wondered "If I only knew then what I know now" then check this film out. You may learn that being forewarned is not necessarily a blessing...