As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes and Joe Layden

from goodreads

4 stars

I love The Princess Bride. I first saw the movie when I was 6 or 7. I have seen it many times since. For the longest time I would hide my face when the part of the old woman who booed Buttercup would come on because let's face it, that lady was scary! Now, my kids love watching it. They will even choose it over Frozen (and for any of you who have young daughters you will know what a feat that is).


I'm not sure what it is about The Princess Bride that makes it so memorable and lovable. It has an almost magical quality about it that makes you fall in love with it all over again every time you watch it. There is something for everyone in that movie. Whether you love beautiful princesses, pirates, giants, feats of athleticism, revenge or quirky secondary characters, this movie has it all. So I invite you, if you haven't seen this movie or if you haven't watched it in a while, to watch it. It is the best. Also, if you haven't read the book by William Goldman you should. I found it helped me understand the characters that much better and thus helped me appreciate the movie on a whole new level.

Synopsis

Cary Elwes, who played Westley in The Princess Bride reminisces about his time on set. Interspersed throughout the book are memories from the rest of the cast as well as some of the crew.

My Thoughts

I probably rated this book higher than what others might have. It isn't the best memoir I have ever read. The writing isn't out of this world. I just love Cary Elwes and I love The Princess Bride so I had to give it a high rating.


I love learning about behind the scenes things of movies. I am probably the only person who actually watches those features on every single dvd. I love watching interviews where you get little tidbits. I'm not sure when all this information will come in handy, but you never know. Thus, this book was right up my ally. Not only did you get Elwes' view on things, but you also got Rob Reiner's (the director), Billy Crystal's, Mandy Patinkin's, William Goldman's (screenwriter, also author of the book), Robin Wright's and more.

It was awesome to see how much training and work went into everything. I loved the stories about Andre the Giant. What a gentle soul he seemed. I loved learning about Elwes' injury, not because I am happy he was injured, but more I wondered why he sat so weirdly during one of the scenes, and now I know why.

Some of the stories told weren't new, as I have watched documentaries etc., but it was neat getting a new perspective on them.

The book is somewhat repetative. I'm not sure how many times we had to be told how nice Rob Reiner was or how much everyone just got along... but it was a lot. I'm glad they had such a nice time shooting and things were always so great, but seriously... we get it. Also, Elwes would always mention how happy he was to work with someone because he loved their work. Well I am not a movie buff so for a lot of people I didn't know of their work. I am interested to learn more, but reading it I was like they were in something other than Princess Bride?! Who knew. So, ya. The name dropping and comments on their work felt weird, because I wasn't sure if he was being serious or making it up.

Other than that, any fan of the movie is going to love this book. Seriously, read this book. You will be laughing and thrilled at the same time. You also might never watch the movie in quite the same way again (but you will still love it.)