Wednesday, January 13, 2010

That San Dimas Glow

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)
directed by Stephen Herek
rating: 4 out of 5 cravats
on DVD in Tempe

I appreciate movies that sympathize with the kids who hated high school. I love Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a TV show Joss Whedon conceived because he felt like an outsider in grades 9 through 12. But popular kids need their days in the sun, and if you’re going to be fair about it, a good day in the life of a much-loved senior is just about as good as a day can get. Bill and Ted famously incorporates logically consistent time travel – people are always amazed by that, as if Bill and Ted wrote the screenplay, too - but what makes it a great movie is the goodwill that everyone from Bill and Ted’s teachers to an adoring auditorium full of classmates extends to their innocent heroes. As in Easy Living or Let it Ride, it isn’t always necessary to see the protagonists fail in order to cheer them on from start to finish. Home life might be tricky for Bill and Ted, but high school in suburban Phoenix isn’t, and I love their movie as much today as I did when I watched it on VHS with my medium popular pals.