As You Wish

by Cary Elwes and Joe Layden

[Terri M. LeBlanc]

Disclaimer: I am a huge fan of The Princess Bride. So much so that the scene of Westley saying goodbye to Buttercup as he goes off to seek his fortune was used on the front of my wedding invitation. And my husband and I, when we were dating, had our own versions of “As you wish.” that we would say to each other.

I enjoyed As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride. It was a quick and easy read. I got it done in less than twenty-four hours, which is rare for me and even more rare when it comes to nonfiction books. Mr. Elwes style of writing is conversational as if he is sitting down with you to have tea and shoot the breeze.

It was fun to get a behind the scene glimpse of the making of one of my favorite movies. And while I liked Cary’s writing style, I enjoyed the asides from the other actors more. It turns out that I knew most of the stories (I guess that’s what happens when you watch the extras on the DVD) that Cary shared about the making of the movie and the asides shared from the other actors seemed more behind the scenes that Cary’s narrative.

Reading the book did spark me to watch The Princess Bride again after finishing the book. Cary did share a couple of personal stories that can be glimpsed in the movie if you watch closely. Seeing those stories pop up on film leant a new view on certain scenes in the movie.

This memoir is truly for the fans of The Princess Bride. If you’ve never seen the movie or perhaps didn’t like the movie all that much, I’m not sure this memoir will be worth the time. But for me, a somewhat diehard fan of the movie, it was a fun view into the making of one of my favorite modern films.
This review was originally posted on Second Run Reviews