As You Wish by Cary Elwes, Joe Layden
As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride
by Cary Elwes, Joe Layden
(Audio)
First off, I love The Princess Bride. I memorized the movie as a kid from watching it so many times. It's just one of those magical, perfect movies you can't help but love. When I heard that Cary had written a memoir about his experiences making the movie, I immediately put it on reserve at the library. But my hold was for the eBook and it came in at the wrong time in my life, so the hold expired and I just never got around to hunting it down again. But then I saw it on audio at the library on the new shelves, and I grabbed it. After putting it in my car's CD player, I was thrilled to find out that not only does Cary read it, but the audio also features voices from many others in the cast and production team. There is even content from several of the people involved who couldn't lend their voices to the audio (like Mandy and Fred and William Goldman). What a treat!
It's clear from the beginning how much they all love this movie and are proud to have been involved in its creation. I'm not sure what I expected from this book-maybe just some new facts about how the movie was made or some personal insight about their role in the film. But this book blew me away many times as I found out so much I didn't know about my favorite movie. I loved hearing all the stories and struggles and the fun times on set. Just like the original book and the movie, this memoir has a magical quality to it, capturing the feel and appreciation of the story.
The only downside was that so many different voices meant some content was repeated back-to-back. That's what you get when you do a setup and then an exact quote. But I was never frustrated or bored with that, because it was still a genuine treat to get to hear people read their own quotes and hear the emotion and love they have for the movie. I was especially moved during the parts about Andre. I knew he had a lot of physical problems during filming because of his condition, but I really had no idea about him as a person and it was wonderful to hear how warmhearted and friendly he was such that his coworkers still gush about their experiences working with him to this day. He has been immortalized within these pages, just as in the movie itself.
I loved every moment of this book and didn't want it to end. The movie changed so many lives, and I truly appreciated the honesty and detail that went into writing a book about their experiences-how it almost didn't happen, how difficult it was to find the right actors, how parts of the movie were filmed, and how it was such a struggle to market it. Everything from concept to its lasting impact are covered in this book. And considering how long-lasting and magical the movie is to so many people now, it would be easy to get the typical egotistical Hollywood view on it. But everyone involved is so humble and kind of in awe of the movie themselves.
The movie changed Cary's life, for which he is grateful. He seems genuinely okay with forever being remembered as Wesley, no matter what else he does in his acting career. But the fact that he and Robin were so young during filming and relative newcomers to movies and yet went on to such fantastic careers only goes to show that the casting was even better than expected.
I cried several times while earreading this, especially at the ending. But I'm so glad I read this. I learned a lot, certainly, but more importantly I got to experience just a little straight from the viewpoints of those who created the film for me. What a wonderful tribute to the film and everyone involved.