Review of For the Boys

Both brash and plastic, Mark Rydell's "For The Boys" isn't ever convincing, but with so much talent on-hand it is seldom dull. Playing the star-duo of a musical-comedy act which spans the decades, James Caan and Bette Midler have no chemistry together. Their bickering is contrived and mechanical, and their routines on stage don't soar with hilarity (everything about this union is heavily grounded, and the actors look unhappy throughout). Bette Midler is good when she's flying solo, and not being forced to be wacky. She has a lovely moment singing "In My Life" to a group of soldiers, but the scene is undermined by gunfire (a cue for director Rydell to make a ham-handed statement about the senselessness of war). Lackluster, overeager, and unsubtle, the picture has too much star-power to be lousy, is instead glossy, well-produced swill. ** from ****