Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure: Stephen Herek

Stephen Herek's Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure was always one of those films that I kicked myself for never having watched. Not only was it a personal favorite of many of my friends, it was one of the most frequently quoted and incessantly referenced films of the 1980s. That's quite an impressive feat for a decade that also gave us Back to the Future (1985) and Indiana Jones. After finally kicking myself enough times, I gave the film a watch. And now, I can finally understand why it was so popular. This film about two high school slackers who come into possession of a time machine is no work of high art in the vein of Kubrick or Bresson. But it still remains an incredibly entertaining, thoroughly enjoyable piece of cinema. It may be as formulaic as Hollywood films come in terms of story structure (I could hear the individual parts of the three-act story structure fall into place with deafening 'thuds'), but that does little to diminish the pleasure that this film delivers. Its sense of irreverence, indefatigable joy, and enthusiasm elevate this simple film into cinematic Valhalla.

7/10