“Being able to go back in time and laugh at your father for buying a DeSoto. Telling your high school teacher that you will never use anything he is teaching in your entire life and …”
Francis Ford Coppola's passable 1986 comedy stars Kathleen Turner as an unhappy, middle-aged woman who goes back in time to her high school years and meets her future husband (Nicolas Cage) all over again. A lightweight entry from Coppola (The Godfather,Apocalypse Now), the film has some clever, backward-looking jokes (Turner's character laughs incredulously when someone turns up with a brand-new Edsel); and the lead actress does bring intelligence and searching emotions to her role. Cage (Coppola's nephew), who specialized in these dumb-guy roles back then (seeRaising Arizona), is in sharp, raw form. Worth a visit, but don't expect to be bowled over this time by the legendary director. The DVD release has optional full-screen and widescreen presentations, theatrical trailer, optional Spanish soundtrack and optional Spanish and French subtitles.--Tom Keogh