Peggy Sue Got Married

Dir: Francis Ford Coppola, 1986 (8.5*)

One of Coppola’s best, an underrated comedic fantasy. Kathleen Turner (Oscar nominated) has the title part, about an unhappily married woman, whose husband Nicholas Cage, her high school sweetheart, has turned out to be a less-than-stellar mate. At their 20-yr h.s. reunion, she falls and hits her head and apparently time travels back to high school, where she can make her important decisions again, like going out with that weird poet biker dude. Of course, all her friends now think she’s mental, as does Cage, because she has her memory of being "all grown up", so she’s pretty sarcastic and world-weary for a teenage girl. Cage is pretty funny in his part as well, kind of perpetually adolescent, and definitely goofy. It’s been compared to Capra for its homey virtures and simplicity. You’ll see Helen Hunt, Joan Allen, and Jim Carrey in small parts.