You don’t realize until way later that you have discovered a movie star for the first time.  There were many not yet discovered in this film that would be discovered later.  The person I remember wanting to see more of, was Nic Cage.

Don’t get me wrong.  I had seen Cage perform in other movies that I loved him in (briefly in “Rumble Fish” and again briefly in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High“), but after watching “Peggy Sue Got Married” I wanted to see even more.

To boot, Kathleen Turner was in it.  My God…I loved her.

I’ll get to that, just give me a sec to talk about my man-crush on young Nic…

His voice inflection alone in this movie is worth a viewing.  He is also a key component in a “doo wop” group that features an extremely young Jim Carrey who had an opportunity (however brief) to show off his comedic talent in the limited amount of time he has on screen.  If you decide to take a viewing, watch for him.  Nic, Jim, and the other guys CAN really sing; quite impressive.  I feel that this was that early role that Nic Cage took advantage of and put himself ALL IN and showed what he “wanted” to do as opposed to what he “could” do.  It didn’t hurt that his uncle was the director.

At the end of the day, the story is remarkable and inventive.

At her 20 year reunion, Peggy Sue (Turner–obviously) faints and wakes up in her old life back in high school.  We know very little about her current circumstances–only that her marriage to her high school sweetheart Charlie (Cage–again, obviously) is over and ended on very heartbreaking terms–all of which we piece together with subtle bits of dialogue from conversations she has with her daughter (played by a yet to be discovered Helen Hunt–there’s more where that came from).

Peggy Sue obviously remembers everything of her future now and wants to make major changes to her life based on what she has learned.

Who the hell wouldn’t want to do this?  I have yet to meet anyone that wouldn’t…that whole, “Youth is wasted on the youth” notion.

I remember learning so much about the culture that Peggy Sue (and my mom) grew up in.  There are very many 1960s pop culture references.  Peggy Sue would say something, I’d ask mom to pause it and explain.  She did.  It was a lot of fun, not just to experience a great story, but to learn about the times that my mom grew up was interesting and exciting for me too.

Watching Cage’s Charlie do an emotional tango with Turner’s Peggy Sue is entertaining on a comedic level, while it builds into a very dramatic waltz when the stakes are at their highest toward the climax of the film.

Definitely worth a viewing, and thankfully, Charlie never took Peggy up on her offer to sing “She Loves You” for the first time.  The “Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs,” can continue to be as timeless as they are now.

That last little bit kind of dares you to watch this movie.  I hope you catch the reference.  It’s by far my favorite 1960s pop culture mention in the movie and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget it.  

——

Please join my newsletter #Clintington on Film Dope Sheet.