Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)

Peggy Sue faints at a high school reunion. When she wakes up, she finds herself in her own past, just before she finished school.

Director:

Francis Ford Coppola (as Francis Coppola)

Writers:

Jerry Leichtling, Arlene Sarner

Stars:

Kathleen Turner, Nicolas Cage, Barry Miller

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kathleen Turner	...	Peggy Sue
Nicolas Cage	...	Charlie Bodell
Barry Miller	...	Richard Norvik
Catherine Hicks	...	Carol Heath
Joan Allen	...	Maddy Nagle
Kevin J. O'Connor	...	Michael Fitzsimmons
Jim Carrey	...	Walter Getz
Lisa Jane Persky	...	Delores Dodge
Lucinda Jenney	...	Rosalie Testa
Wil Shriner	...	Arthur Nagle
Barbara Harris	...	Evelyn Kelcher
Don Murray	...	Jack Kelcher
Sofia Coppola	...	Nancy Kelcher
Maureen O'Sullivan	...	Elizabeth Alvorg
Leon Ames	...	Barney Alvorg

Storyline

Peggy Sue was one of the most popular girls in high school, enjoying life with her friends and her boyfriend Charlie. It was the typical high school dream, until she finds herself married to Charlie and becoming a young mother. However, her life takes a serious turn, leaving her depressed and facing divorce when Charlie runs off with another woman. At her high school reunion, Peggy Sue faints and wakes up back in high school. Despite her confusion about what has happened and how to get back to her own time, Peggy realizes that she has a chance to start her life over, to avoid her depression and her marriage to Charlie. However, just because she knows the future, does that mean she can really avoid it?

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Plot Keywords:

alternate timeline | alternate history | high school reunion | title appears in song | time travel | 

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Taglines:

Knowing what you know now, what would you do differently? Peggy Sue is going back with the chance to change her destiny.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Romance

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Certificate:

PG-13

Did You Know?

Trivia

In a 2018 interview with David Marchese on the website Vulture, Kathleen Turner said that she was taken aback on the set of Peggy Sue Got Married when she first heard the voice that Nicholas Cage chose to use while playing her love interest, but she didn't think it was her job to direct another actor's performance. She instead talked to the movie's director, Francis Ford Coppola and asked if he had approved Cage's choice. When Coppola failed to intervene, Turner said that she made it work by choosing to interact with Cage's character in a way that explained her character's eventual disillusionment with the past.

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Goofs

When Richard Norvick tells Peggy Sue to stand in front of a responding fire engine to see if she is dead, the fire truck is the correct style for the era, but the helmets that the firefighters are wearing are of modern fiberglass design with a salad bowl shape that didn't come into vogue until the 1980s when the movie was made. Fire helmets of the 1960s would have been of tin or leather construction with a more traditional shape.

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Quotes

Michael Fitzsimmons: I'm going to check out of this bourgeois motel, push myself from the dinner table and say, "No more Jell-o for me, mom!"

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Connections

Referenced in The 70th Annual Academy Awards (1998)

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Soundtracks

Teenager In Love
Written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman
Performed by Dion DiMucci (as Dion) & The Belmonts
Courtesy of 3C Records

User Reviews

Comfortable as an old shoe...

This movie is definitely on my Top 20 list of all time favorite movies. Whenever I come across it while channel surfing, I end up watching it again-and I hate watching movies that are edited for TV!

As others have pointed out, it showcases so many talented actors. Joan Allen is great here, as is Catherine Hicks. And the amazing Barbara Harris, whom I adore for her work on the stage, is excellent and dead-on as Peggy's mother. Jim Carrey is here as well and surprise, he's overacting in most of his scenes! While I've never completely figured out why Nicholas Cage was encouraged to employ the weird-ass voice that he did, his performance winds up being very likeable. Barry Miller is also great as Richard.

The premise is cool. Who among us wouldn't want to have such and opportunity (OK, maybe not the passing out in public part)? As a person that grew up in the 60s, I'd love to return and see some of the sights and sounds that filled my innocent, pre-Internet world. And the scene when Peggy hears her Grandmother's voice on the phone makes me cry every time.

I likey!

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Movie Channel [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 October 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

Peggy Sue Got Married

Filming Locations:

Cloverdale Municipal Airport - 220 Airport Road, Cloverdale, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$18,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,942,408, 13 October 1986

Gross USA:

$41,382,841

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$41,488,348

Company Credits

Production Co:

TriStar Pictures, Rastar Pictures, Zoetrope Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1