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To some that sounds like a no brainer, and to others it sounds like a ridiculous pipe dream. But as most of us age, we lose the ability to dream and our lifelong ambitions evaporate along with that. Yet no matter how old you are, a touch of blind faith and an insatiable will to succeed can go a long way. So, let’s take a look at The Princess Bride, shall we? It’s a simple story, really. Boy meets girl, girl loses boy to Pirate Lord, girl becomes a Princess, boy comes back, girl gets engaged to scumbag, girl gets captured by an evil Sicilian mastermind, a Spaniard and a professional wrestler…okay, I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start from the beginning.

It all starts with a sick little boy (Fred Savage, adorable lisp and all) who is paid a visit by his kindly grandfather (Peter Falk, rumpled jacket and all), who reads to the child from a storybook to help pass the time recovering. The boy initially greets the soupy tale of love and adventure with all the cynicism of an adult, but in time he becomes emotionally invested in the yarn the way only a child can. The story tells of the fictional land of Florin, where a beautiful farm girl named Buttercup (Robin Wright) and a handsome peasant named Westley (Cary Elwes) fall in love despite belonging to different social classes.

Wanting to marry but unable to support his future bride, Westley sets off to seek his fortune only to be captured by the infamous Dread Pirate Roberts. Thinking him dead, Buttercup eventually becomes engaged to the evil Prince Humperdinck, future king of all the land. But before she can marry the Prince, Buttercup is kidnapped by a criminal named Vizzini (Wallace Shawn) and his two buffoonish henchmen Inigo (Mandy Patinkin) and Fezzik (Andre the Giant). Humperdinck pursues the outlaws, seemingly more concerned with his royal image than with the welfare of his fiancée. But he isn’t the only one seeking the Princess- a mysterious Man in Black tracks down the three outlaws and in an increasingly comical series of events, bests them all and manages to take the Princess for himself.

Poor Buttercup is aghast to discover that her rescuer is none other than the Dread Pirate Roberts, the very same one responsible for Westley’s disappearance. Glib and insolent, Roberts taunts the girl’s heartbreak and soon their relationship settles - for good reason - into the same coquettish banter that Buttercup used to enjoy with her beloved Westley. Thus, the fearsome pirate turns out to be more than he seems, and when Humperdinck catches up with them, Buttercup likewise discovers that the man behind Humperdinck’s smug arrogance is nothing more than a cowardly usurper.

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