Private Benjamin (1980)

I love this movie so much

Sorry, this movie sucks

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

THE POST Vietnam War years were a sort of mixed bag of conflicting attitudes, changing social mores and an unsure future. Every one of these elements are reflected in the films of that era and the elements that comprise the uneven mood and mission of PRIVATE BENJAMIN are typical.ALTHOUGH THE CONFLICT in Southeast Asia is not a player in the film, the now (1980) vilified Military is at the center of the story. One could gather that the writer and production team inferred that one's choosing to join or to make a career of the Armed Forces was below the dignity of anyone who wishes to "make anything of himself." PROMOTED AS A COMEDY starring vehicle for Miss Goldie Hawn, the movie proves to be much more complex. We concede that, yes it is a comedy in the Classic, Shakespearean sense and there were many a moment of high readings on the old laugh-meter. But there is always an underlying feeling of tension, uncertainty and indecision.THE PERFORMANCES BY the cast were better than average; with star Goldie Hawn and Eileen Brennan's lively interpretations of the women of the U.S. Army being the most interesting aspect of this uneven and preachy comedy-drama.THE FOLLOWING YEAR (1981) Warner Brothers launched a PRIVATE BENJAMIN TV Series; which ran on CBS. In the series, Eileen Brenan reprised her role from the feature film. She was the only hold over./

This film is about a unfortunate young lady whose husband dies on their wedding night. She copes with her sorrow by mistakenly enlisting in the United States army."Private Benjamin" is very funny! Even the film is already thirty years old, the jokes are timeless. The scene that Goldie Hawn explaining that she is sent to the wrong army is hilarious. Well, actually the whole section about her adjusting to the fact that Army life is not a holiday is hilarious. Even though I have seen similar story lines before, it is still hilarious. If only all the comedies stood the test of time like "Private Benjamin"!

Ah, the good old forces comedy gets a female make over with entertaining enough results.When Judy Benjamin's second husband dies whilst making love to her, she is sold on joining the army by cunning recruitment officer Sgt. Jim Ballard {Harry Dean Stanton}, trouble for Judy is that training camp in Biloxi is a far cry from the exotic base she had envisaged for her stay in the service. Pulled from pillar to post by ruthless Capt. Doreen Lewis {a delightful Eileen Brennan}, and shunned by her fellow recruits for being a whining posh lass, Judy finally gets the picture and pulls herself up from the brink of misery.The script from Nancy Meyers, Charles Shyler and Harvey Miller stands up well enough, it's laced with genuine humour, and at its core, the triumph of the will theme gladdens the spirit all told. Yet strip away the comic ability of Goldie Hawn and you would be left with a very unmemorable picture, and come the films final snug piece of jigsaw filling, you can't help thinking that the films shift away from the army to France {for Judy's final romantic awakening} has left us short of more comic glee, and thus an empty feeling replaces where once was fulfilment. 6/10

A harmless, cute movie that rests nearly entirely on the talents of two women: Goldie Hawn and Eileen Brennan.Hawn is an expert comedienne and her string of late 70s/early 80s comedies are nearly all perfectly watchable now. Brennan is a total hoot as a drill sergeant who you love to hate. The movie is basically an all-female version of "Police Academy" or "Stripes" (which would come out a year later).I don't have anything else to say about this movie but I have to have ten lines of text to get my comment approved.Grade: B+