Rob Reiner's adaptation teaches us that it is better to be brave and romantic than brutal and despairing

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The death of Rob Reiner and his wife is a horrific tragedy, and the details are hard to read. The grim particulars need not be repeated here. It is enough to acknowledge that Reiner gave us some of the most enduring and entertaining films of the 20th century.

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Stand By Me, When Harry Met Sally and A Few Good Men are just a few, but perhaps his most timeless is The Princess Bride. It is one of the rare films you can drop into at any point, on any day of the year, and it still works, even as background viewing during a lazy Sunday.

Based on the 1973 fantasy novel by William Goldman, The Princess Bride is a warmly staged swashbuckling adventure, replete with romance, revenge and irreverent humour. The film, in fact, opens with a self-aware twist, a grandfather reading the book to his sick grandchild, which makes it all the more relatable. Their sweet, needling exchanges give the audience permission to smirk at the story without suspending their imagination.

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