Happy October! While I’m waiting for cool weather to come and stay, my Halloween fever is ramping up, so I can’t wait to cover some spooky movies within the next few weeks.
Release Date: February 17, 1989
Synopsis: Bill S. Preston, Esq. (Alex Winter) and Ted “Theodore” Logan (Keanu Reeves) are underachieving high school students/prospective rockstars with no musical training but a surprisingly extensive vocabulary. When their history teacher tells the guys they have to ace their final project to pass his class, Bill and Ted know that Ted’s father will send him to military school if they don’t. What they are unaware of is what their impending separation means to the future. Promptly, Rufus (George Carlin) shows up from the year 2688 to give Bill and Ted a time-traveling phone booth to visit historical figures, because if Wyld Stallyns don’t pass their class, they won’t stay together. And if they don’t stay together, their music will never unite the world.
Degrees of Kevin Bacon: 2. Keanu Reeves stars in Speed (1994) and The Lake House (2006) with Sandra Bullock. Sandra Bullock is in Loverboy (2005), which Bacon both directed and acted in.
Come For: Time travel! Comedy! Napoleon pushing children out of the way to go on waterslides?
Stay For: A wonderful, lighthearted friendship between two characters who display more depth and intelligence than one might realize or give them credit for.
Had I Seen It? Yes, a handful of times.
Do I Like It? I love it more each time I watch it. Aside from the use of the f-slur, which is jarring, Bill and Ted are essentially kind people who are easy to root for. The movie’s mix of historical figures is crazy, but the ways Bill and Ted find to communicate with them are great comedic moments. I enjoy how the main characters figure out how to use time travel to their advantage—especially in the police station scene toward the movie’s end. Winter and Reeves have perfect chemistry, so it is hard to imagine any other actors in their place embodying Bill and Ted the way they do. Also, it is endlessly quotable.
Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure’s central message is to “be excellent to each other.” Maybe that sounds cheesy to some people, but I think it is more important than ever right now to keep in mind. Until next time, “Party on, dudes!”
“Who you gonna call” next week? We’ll head over to a New York City fire station to find out with the help of Ghostbusters (1984).
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