Private Benjamin (1980)

" Beware... there are mine fields out there. Most of them are inert. However, some of them are ert."

It`s a horrible movie,that`s why we didn`t pay it any attention before.

First half is fun. It even seems like it could have ended with her graduation from basic training.

Then it becomes an entirely different movie in its second half. What was the fun in seeing her courtship with Armand Assante?

Great comedy, Goldie at her best

"Don't bad French artists have telephones?"

r3 is correct. It's like it's two different movies and they didn't have enough material for either movie so they just stitched a script together. It really missed its potential.

Eileen Brennan was the best thing about it. I agree the second half where she went to France and dyed her hair red was pointless.

Don't forget the TV version!

Mrs. Goodman:

Judith. Just one thing. If you can remember. What were Yale's last words?

Judy Benjamin:

I'm coming.

It's hard to believe this movie received 3 oscar nominations. It's not very good even by the 1980's standards.

Where exactly was she going when she walked off?

I did like the 'not so fast' line at the start of the wedding.

It's been years since I've seen it, but I loved Goldie in it.

The 1st half is great, the 2nd half is horrible.

R3 I agree. I love the movie, but the second half really does get silly. She was doing so well in the army and finally "found" herself, and then quits just for that stupid guy? And then the end leaves everything unanswered - what does she do next with her life? She can't go back to the army since she quit, and she can't go back to her parents house, so what was she gonna do next with no money or job?

Second half is tedious--and the unnecessarily gratuitous bit of having Eileen Brennan's character turn lesbian because she couldn't get a man in the first half is bewildering--it even felt so back then, as if to say that Judy's triumph was so great that it meant Brennan became a lesbo!

I wanted Brennan to win the Oscar that year, as I think she was a great actress (my father really liked her small role in "The Last Picture Show"--I could tell he knew the kind of woman she was, and she looked a bit like my mother in it). But Steenburgen won just about every other Supporting Actress award, and she was new and different. And she was excellent in "Melvin and Howard."

I liked when she walked off in the end -- you knew wherever she went, she could take care of herself.

I was a kid so it could be clouding my judgement but I really liked the TV series.

"...may I see your toothbrush...?"

Much of the middle portion of the movie edited out of the movie. The missing portion develops Judy's character post Thorn Birds.

Eileen Brennan is the best thing about the movie and deserved that Oscar.

Pauline Kael wrote that it was weird that she has to get radicalized all over again (and, for the purposes of the story, she was a slow learner).

Remember, though, that she didn't quit Army over some guy; she was blackmailed into it because he had some Commie connections that were bullshit. And she had access to classified info. So she was pressured by mean Captain Lewis. :)

[quote]Remember, though, that she didn't quit Army over some guy; she was blackmailed into it because he had some Commie connections that were bullshit. And she had access to classified info. So she was pressured by mean Captain Lewis. :)

No, she had a choice to either stop seeing the guy and stay in the army or quit and go off with the guy; she chose to quit and go with the guy.

I actually love that we are still discussing this plot point 30 years later. :)

We said you were in a mental home.

And I've told this story before but my friends and I had a running joke whenever we would walk into a West Hollywood gay bar circa 1985: "There's been a mistake... I joined the Army but I joined a different Army. I joined the one with the condos and the private rooms..."

Or sometimes we'd shorten that to looking around the room and then saying, "Where are the yachts?"

Think you guys are missing the point on the second half. Judy was falling back in her old patterns again of having people (in this case her fiancé Armand Assante) take care of her. Judy was spoiled and indulged growing up and was raised to believe she should marry to have a life. Thought the film was great. Seen it many many times. Goldie's best role by far. Made the ending even better when she wised up to this and broke the pattern.

Has anybody ever died from basics?!

The most famous extra of the '80s: the Army dude who gives her the dry look when she asks about the uniforms, "Is green the only color these come in?" No lines but he got tons of exposure/mileage out of it.

The movie poster was brilliant.

I just read the stars on the movie poster. Why isn't the Mary Kay Place troll here yet?

R24, they really do lie to you. I considered joining the army fresh out of high school in 1998, and they made it sound like a wellness resort, telling me that the Army would get me fit "for the ladies" and since I'm a vegetarian they promised me that there was a vegetarian menu. In the end I decided not to join, and much later I learned it was all bullshit, especially the vegetarian menu part. Basically, they were just telling me what I wanted to hear.

Don't forget that when they were dancing to "We Are Family" in the barracks, we got to see the semi-famous Damita Jo doing her Soul Train line dance.

I remember one of the tag lines from the film "Judy Benjamin ... she thought that KP was a sorority and a push-up was a bra."

Loved seeing Broadway fave Gretchen Wyler's little cameo as Aunt Simmy at the wedding!

R30=Bowe Bergdahl

Private Benjamin was one of the first high concept movies -- a film that can be explained in one sentence. In this case "Jewish Princess joins the army,"

I hope that they cast Jane Lynch in the remake

Jane Lynch is delightful but she cannot hold a candle to Eileen Brennan.

They've already cast Rebel Wilson as Benjamin in the sequel.

In the REMAKE I mean.

Whats your name princess?

Kate Hudson Against 'Private Benjamin' Remake

Can't the army afford drapes? I'll be up at the crack of dawn.

Brilliantly cast movie...so much fun, Goldie couldn't have been more adorable and lovable. And they got to go to Europe to film. Don't forget Sally Kirkland's tiny part as Eileen's lesbian gf. It is Aunt Kissy- thank you. I auditioned for it in LA- the line to read was-"Stop right there"- while pretending to hold a gun and with a Southern accent. Hollywood is so queer.

[quote] You're kidding me! There isn't a single thread on this in the archives. How is that possible?

Most of the DL "Archive" has been lost, so who knows? There likely was a thread or 2 at one time.

[quote]There likely was a thread or 2 at one time.

& we'll never, never know.

I think "I'm in a movie!" every time I ride the tube escalators at CDG Terminal 1.

I had never seen the film before one Saturday afternoon in the 90s when it was on TV. I caught it around the time she was about to duye her hair red and I kept asking myself, "Is this Private Benjamin? Where's the army?"

[quote]They've already cast Rebel Wilson as Benjamin in the sequel.

Doesn't the Army have weight restrictions?

"Look!!! And what do we have here??? We have a PRINCESS!!!"

Eileen Brennan tearing down poster in locker of Bob Dylan: "I know how you girls all love this Fonzie character..."

"But this isn't the army I joined. I joined the one with the condos & the trips to Italy"

Couldn't the army recruiter have been in trouble for such a bold-faced lie as "You can leave anytime you want?" There's lies and there are lies.

Armand was pretty hot at the time of filming, no?

Eileen Brennan is an entire reason for seeing the movie. Goldie is very cute, and funny. I liked it then and I still do.

I think Barbara Barrie also deserves a mention with what she did with her role as Judy's mom.

Brilliantly cast film all around, including Sam Wanamaker as Judy's daddy.

What was Goldie's first movie where she shook off the "Laugh-In" persona? She's just playing a variation of her in "Cactus Flower."

Was it "Butterflies Are Free"?

Another oft overlooked Goldie movie is Protocol. Funny and has the sexy Chris Sarandon in it.

That scene where he had Judy dye her hair the same color as Clare and she sat there looking broken.

But then at the wedding when she told him, "Look! There's Clare!" was priceless.

I think the film is not as well-regarded as it originally was is because its reputation was tarnished when Goldie followed it with about a dozen films with similar fish-out-of-water formulas.

[all posts by tedious, racist idiot removed.]

[all posts by tedious, racist idiot removed.]

The physical comedy in this scene is subtle, but great. You don't see that in comedies today - it's mainly quick dialogue.

I really like Goldie Hawn, and two of my favorite comedies of all-time are OVERBOARD and HOUSESITTER. But PRIVATE BENJAMIN is so bad. Here's a list of reasons why.

1) The writers couldn't decide if they wanted to make a movie about a rich princess in the military or a failed romance. It's like two terrible scripts got spliced together to make one steaming turd.

2) I get that it's a comedy, and some things are exaggerated for the sake of humor; but there are too many parts that are not realistic, and these parts have nothing to do with the so-called humor. For example, Judy left the military as if it were no big deal. Getting separated from the military is no easy task. It usually requires a medical reason (physical or psychological). No military commander would tell a private, "You've gotta pick, the military or your Communist boyfriend."

3) The ending is so bad. Judy walks out of the wedding and the credits roll. Where's the resolution? We just spent 2 hours watching this movie, only to see her quit her career in the military and then walk out of her wedding. All this time, and she ends us alone and unemployed. What's the point?

4) There were no likable characters in the movie, except for maybe Judy. Her friends in the military had about two lines each, so we never really got to know them. Her father was a jerk; her husband and later fiance were both jerks; her drill instructor was a jerk; the other captain was banging the star recruit; her commander in the Thornbirds tried to rape her, her maid was banging her fiance, etc etc etc. Judy is likable enough, but the rest of the cast is made up of detestable people.

5) The gags were too stupid. The scene with the blue paint in the shower. Has anyone ever gotten into a shower, put their face directly under the nozzle, and then turned the water on? Don't people typically turn the water on and then get in? Or at least feel the water first for temperature? Of course if the drill instructor did any of these rational things, the gag wouldn't have worked. I get it.

6) Everything was predictable. You knew she would go into the military and not fit in, but then somehow she would turn things around and impress her superiors. Wow, shocking.

7) The characters were all 2-dimensional and cliche. You had the poor little rich girl who lived off daddy's wealth who wanted to make it on her own. You had the rich father who didn't want his baby in the military. You had the jerk boyfriend who was sleeping with the maid. You had the anal retentive drill instructor that had it out for the lead character. Um, I think I've seen this movie about 100 times before.

I've seen the film many times but never picked up on Sally Kirkland being Eileen Brennan's girlfriend. Always just assumed she was just a friend. There is nothing in the scene to imply more than that.

I love Eileen. She was the funniest thing that ever happened to Will& Grace.

In both Private Benjamin and Protocol, Japanese businessmen were the disparaged-by-stereotype groups.

R64, watch that scene again. It's pretty obvious from the dialogue.

INSSSSSSPECTION....... LADIES.....!

Loved this and Protocol.

The French guy was so creepy. There was a funny bit of dialogue in the second half of the film where Doreen threatens Judy over Armand political affiliations:

"Your boyfriend's a RED, Benjamin!"

"Don't be ridiculous: he WAS a Red... for about five seconds."

"Nobody stops being a Communist, Benjamin: it's a terminal disease."

"Oh PLEASE! Henri is as much a Communist as me...."

"Ha."

"OR YOU!!!!!!!!"

*GASP* "If PATTON were ALIVE, he would SLAP YOUR FACE."

The most likable bad movie.

The ending was stupid and made no sense rushing to marriage to a French horndog.

[quote]The ending is so bad. Judy walks out of the wedding and the credits roll. Where's the resolution?

A product of the times, dear. In the 1970s, the movie where someone just walks off at the end were so common they were almost cliche, and movies in 1980 were basically still '70s movies. It was considered pretty remarkable to have a woman do the walking-off thing; usually it was reserved for actors like Bruce Dern or James Caan or Elliot Gould or someone like that.

One of my favorite comedies of all time and definitely one of Goldie's best.

I agree. First half, OK. Second half, WTF?

Yes, 1st half was okay. The second half stunk to high heavens. So all and all I would give the film a C -

What was so bad about the second half? I thought it was hilarious.

Movie came out a year before I was born but have watched it on TV countless times (IIRC, it ran pretty regularly on HBO in the 90s)

Like R24, my friends and I used the lines ""There's been a mistake... I joined the Army but I joined a different Army. I joined the one with the condos and the private rooms..." and "Where are the yachts?" as in-jokes, but mostly in reference to the JAPpy girls we grew up with/knew at camp/college. It was especially appropriate when they saw their dorm rooms for the first time and realized the limited amount of closet space and the parents would have to agree to ship their "winter wardrobe" up from Roslyn in November, since it all clearly wasn't going to fit in the closet.

Movie did a great job of portraying that exact type of Jewish princess and there's clearly a straight line from Judy Benjamin to Rachel Green on "Friends" (we just had a whole DL thread on her and people not realizing that Rachel was the ultimate JAP stereotype)

Agree with just about everyone else that it felt like two movies grafted together and that after the scene where Assante says "I'm a doctor ... I'm Jewish--" and they cut away to the two of them in bed--the rest is a not very funny romance movie. The Judy-in-the-army bit was awesome thought.

Good companion piece with Stripes, which IIRC, is from around the same era.

Can't believe it's almost 40 years. Enjoyed it a lot at the time.

Wasn't Goldie one of the producer and she was one of the first women to do so?

IMDB says she was indeed the sole executive producer R79, and that DL fave PJ Soles had a role in the movie too.

Come back, Barbara Barrie come back!

People forget there is a TV series that that ran for THREE seasons based on this. Lorna Patterson reprises the Judy role who's actually fine even without the physical presence of Goldie. Eileen reprises her role and won a well deserved Emmy for the show.

Fuck Sissy and Mary. I should’ve won another Oscar that year.

Desperate now to watch this movie again!

I remember the second half being a slight let down from the perfection of the first half but hottie Armand Assante more than made up for it.

All of the casting is brilliant and those expert performances by Brennan, Barrie, Wanamaker and yes, even Gretchen Wyler as Aunt Kissy really shine.

But I do agree with the above poster who said that Goldie made so many fish-out-of-water followups, they unfairly took the luster off of this one.

I watched this movie for the first time on new years day last year.. It was great until she left the military base and then it got boring as hell when she met the gynecologist guy and I turned it off.

It's been years and years since I've seen this, and I remember little other than some basic plot points, but I can just imagine Brennan saying that line at R49, and it makes me laugh. She was great at everything she did.

Still love the scene where she and the other women are dancing to 'We are Family' and Goldie shows off her dancing skills, this set piece would be repeated in many of her subsequent films and reached its apex in the dance class scene in Housesitter, which to me is one of the funniest scenes ever.

Let’s not keep in touch shall we.

I loved Protocol and wondered why Sarandan never had a bigger career. He was sexy as hell in Fright Night.

[Quote] He was sexy as hell in Fright Night.

He was fantastic in Fright Night.

My name's Judy. I want someone to call me Judy.

Hey...Judy!

I wanna wear my sandals... I wanna go out to lunch. I wanna be NORMAL again!

“Look, I really don’t want to have to talk to your boss”—-the expressions on Brennan’s face during that whole scene are hilarious.

At this point in time (1980) it was a movie from a woman's point of view. The lead character was female. The executive producer was female. It was kind of revolutionary in Hollywood.