Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure **** (1989, Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter) – Classic Movie Review 1638

Director Stephen Herek’s 1989 juvenile teen comedy classic showcases iconic, exuberantly overstated clowns’ performances by the talented Keanu Reeves (Ted Logan) and Alex Winter (Bill Preston).

High school best buddies Bill & Ted are two incredibly thick rock-loving young dudes who travel through history for their school project with the help of a time machine. They’re lucky enough to get to meet Billy the Kid (Dan Shor), Napoleon (Terry Camilleri), Abraham Lincoln (Robert V. Barron), Socrates (Tony Steedman), Genghis Khan (Al Leong), Joan of Arc (Jane Wiedlin), Beethoven (Clifford David) and Sigmund Freud (Rod Loomis).

Cue 90 minutes of undiluted daftness in this harmless numbskull comedy that’s pretty funny most of the time for fans of crazy, brainless fluff. A pretention-free movie, it’s just there to entertain and be fun. No good hating it if you don’t like it but some might even say it’s excellent!

Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon’s screenplay provides the useful germ of a good idea and an endless stream of silly gags and amusing late-Eighties California-speak. George Carlin, Bernie Casey and J Patrick McNamara are also in the cast.

It was a huge hit, and the inevitable sequel followed in 1991’s Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey. There’s been talk for years about a second sequel, but so far it hasn’t emerged.

The 25-year-old Reeves and the 24-year-old Winter are a bit too old to be at school but they don’t really look it and certainly don’t act it.

Reeves celebrated his 50th birthday on 2 September 2014.

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© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 1638

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